Karma
by Gothic Melting Icecream
Summary: Yugi, in a huge argument with Atemu, took apart the Puzzle and abandoned the spirit of the Puzzle. Years later the Pharaoh returns again ready to get revenge for the betrayl of his so called aibou
1. Prologue

Title: Karma

Author: Futile Faith

Rating: R

Pairing: Bakura x Yami – Bakura x Yami x ? (maybe)

Warnings: language, sexual content, and violence

Disclaimer: Yugioh does not belong to me

Summary:  
Yugi, in a huge argument with Atemu, took apart the Puzzle and abandoned the spirit of the Puzzle. Years later the Pharaoh returns again ready to get revenge for the betrayl of his so-called aibou

**Prologue**

Anger hung so thick in the air that it would have suffocated the spirit if he could have breathed. The malice feeling felt like it was choking him, draining him of his non-existence life. Never had his aibou showed anything like this towards him ever. The once carefree, loving soul had become nothing more than a selfish, vile creature, hell bent on taking his guardian down.

Atemu couldn't place his finger on when all this really started. It had to have been slow in coming for a while. He thought all was right with their shared partnership. But his aibou began to slowly cease his time with the yami, spending more and more time with his friends, their little group.

Duels were even played without him, their shared mind not wanted during the various tournaments. Granted they weren't life threatening, but still, wasn't that one of the main reasons for his existence now, to help his hikari be the King of Games? Did he have another reason for being now that all the danger was over?

After all protecting him wasn't needed anymore. Who would mess with the King of Games? No bullies, no mind controlled zombies were after him. No one wanted the power of the Pharaoh anymore. So all they had was their friendship and duels to keep them together.

But the shared duels were no longer wanted.

And the friendship was lost.

So what was there now? What did his aibou – no Yugi want from him?

Was he supposed to be nothing more than a personal possession? Something to hold, locked away, until it's needed or wanted again? But what if that time never came? Would he be nothing more than a useless spirit, ever watchful but never needed or wanted again? Something that would fade away over time like a lost childhood memory?

He didn't understand.

He had given up his long awaited afterlife to be with Yugi, thinking they were inseparable. Two halves of the same soul, light and darkness, yin and yang, forever a completed circle. But that circle now was divided, clearly as water and oil, fire and ice, two things forever separated.

It was also clear he couldn't do anything right by his other either. If someone did pick on him, and the spirit took over to defend his precious little light, he would be forced back into his soul room to only be met with an angry Yugi telling him that he was strong enough to handle it on his own.

If he saw a flaw in an opponent's strategy, and formulated a crushing move he was reminded that again his help and knowledge was neither needed nor wanted. Yugi had said on more than one occasion that he wanted to prove himself that he was the true King of Games. Atemu understood that and left him alone, after all Yugi was growing up and needed to be his own man.

But then that led to another problem.

Soon Yugi was telling him it was Atemu's fault that they didn't get along, saying his withdrawal was the cause of the rift between them.

The true Yu-gi-oh was losing his heart, soul and mind to the game of his existence.

He had a name now, he had memories of a life he use to have, friends and loved ones, yet the one that mattered the most to him refused to acknowledge his life, his feelings, his needs anymore.

He was still called 'other me' by Yugi, not even Yami was used anymore. His true name was becoming more and more a myth, or a curse, depending on how he looked at it.

A myth because it reminded him of his life long ago where he felt with his own hands, he ate with his own mouth, his own body that craved touches and caresses of a lover, his own eyes to look upon the beauty of his land, home, and people. It was nothing more than a legend, something that was written and filed away on a shelf to collect dust.

It was a curse because that was the start of the problems. Yes, now he saw it clear as day. His accursed name, the one they had fought so hard to find out was the root of this fissure that now divided them.

Back in his time, a Pharaoh's name wasn't freely given for to know the name meant you held power over them. For Atemu this was true even in modern Japan.

Couldn't Yugi see what this was doing to him? How it left him completely numb inside, making him feel like nothing more than an empty shell?

Was the sacrifice of his afterlife, his chance at final peace and rest, worthless?

He was beginning to feel that way.

A life of his own, no longer the dark shadow of Yugi, was what he longed for. He wanted to be known as Atemu, a regular teenager that just happen to have special powers. He wanted to feel this world, not just see and hear it through the eyes and ears of another.

But he was nothing more than a spirit, bound to a golden object, forced to live as Yugi saw fit.

Yet even that was fading away from him.

Atemu turned his attention back to Yugi as they stared each other down in his bedroom. He knew this fight had been too long in the making. The spirit had held his feeling in long enough and it had all come to a head over a simple friendly duel with Joey.

Yugi had been cornered, having lost over half of his life points and was starring at his cards just not seeing the move that would have defeated the blonde. Atemu, being the avid gamer he was, quietly told Yugi the move that would finish the other off. And again, the spirit of the puzzle was yelled, screamed, and called every name in the book, just for stating the obvious.

Which all led to Atemu finally having enough and told Yugi just what he thought about it and him.

"Ra Yugi, don't you see what you've become over the last several months? Haven't you seen what you've been doing to me?

Don't you see that I'm tired of living as a possession now? You never speak to me, you never use my name – one that I might add that we went through hell and back to get –, you hardly ever put the puzzle on anymore!"

Yugi glared down the translucent darker half, "Hai mou hitori no boku, I know what I've been doing, it's you that doesn't understand."

The spirit narrowed his crimson eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Then why don't you make me understand? Please tell me what horrible things I have done to make you this way?" he said, dripping with sarcasm.

"You have been ruining my life! You stole Anzu's heart, you take over when you are not needed, and you are becoming a pain in my ass! Every time I turn around I realize that you are the one that keeping me from doing what I want to do. Can't you take a hint? I don't want you around no more, I don't need you anymore!"

Atemu held back a gasp as those words came out of Yugi's mouth. They were the ones he feared, the ones that had plagued his nightmares over the past few months. Yugi didn't want him or need him. So again, what was his purpose? He could no longer go into the afterlife; that option was thrown away long ago.

"Do you know that Kaiba won't duel me anymore? He only wants you, says you're the real Game King and that if he is to get his title back then it has to be you he defeats? Guess he forgot it's my body that allowed him to duel you in the first place and that you are me.

And if you were gone then my friends would be out of harms way. No more maniacs, no more power hungry people wanting to take you and us down? I could have a normal life! A regular life!

The almighty power of the Pharaoh, a simple little spirit that is locked away in a tacky golden pyramid for all of eternity, something that is unfortunately bound to me, for the rest of my life!"

"It doesn't have to be," the rejected spirit whispered.

Atemu's second chance at life was crashing around him. His once aibou was crushing him, tearing his non-beating heart apart with just simple words. Never had he felt pain like this since he was released from his ungodly prison, never had he felt so utterly defeated.

What had he done wrong? What had he failed to do for Yugi that caused him to feel this way? What the boy said was partially true; Kaiba did only want to duel him, but that was only because they shared the same competitive streak, the same passion for the game. They each were willing to take any and all risks to meet their goals. Kaiba always did see him as something more than Yugi.

And true again, their – no his friends wouldn't have to have faced the dangers that they did if he wasn't around. They would be safer without him.

No, Yugi's life wasn't normal, after all, how many teenagers lived with a three thousand year old spirit in them?

Only one other, but that didn't make it any better.

Yes, he was bound to the puzzle and it was bound to Yugi, but he was his reincarnation. Fate brought them together.

But was this Atemu's fault? Did he ask for this to happen to him? Did he want this slavery as his reward for everything good he had done?

No.

He was heartbroken, but he was also disappointed in the boy. For one that went on about the ties of friendship and always sticking together no matter what, he sure as hell changed his tune. He had told him they would meet whatever challenges lay ahead of them together; they would always be together.

Yugi walked over to his desk and picked up the golden object that fuelled his anger. Turning around he faced his other and glared him straight in the eye. "You're right, it doesn't have to be."

Atemu's eyes widened when he watched the boy place his fingers around the piece with the Eye on it. Throwing pride out the window he sank to his knees as he witnessed his final moments in this world before the boy pulled the piece out from the rest of the puzzle.

xXx

Darkness

It was all that he knew now.

It wasn't the Darkness that arrived when lights went out; no, it was impenetrable, living Darkness. The kind that waits on the fringes of your mind, tempting, ready to consume you and drown you in its twisted comfort. The kind that strips away all that you are, leaving nothing but your fears. You can't fight this Darkness, you can only adapt, learn to live with, let it become your friend; let it soothe you like a lover's caress.

The darkness was his only friend now.

How long had it been now? Days, weeks, months, or even years; he didn't know, he didn't want to know. All he knew was that Yugi had forgotten about him when he took apart the puzzle and damned him to this torture. He couldn't take it anymore; he could feel his mind breaking and crumbling under the weight of the shadows.

A pair of eyes watched helplessly as their Pharaoh and long time friend slowly lost his mind to the Darkness. He'd been coming back here for weeks, hoping against all hope that the Pharaoh would be able to resist the temptation and survive this torment. But each day he watched as little by little, a piece of his soul was stripped away, and each day he had to listen to the screams that twisted his very core from the agony echoed in them.

He closed his eyes as yet another scream was pulled from the lips of someone so great, and he turned and walked away, trying to escape the crazed mutterings of a tortured soul. He'd had enough; only the coldest of hearts could sit there and do nothing as another was condemned to this agony.

_Shadi._

_What is it, Mahaado?_

_You told me there was nothing I could do to relieve him of his pain, but I cannot bear to witness anymore of this. Each time a part of his spirit is stripped away, a part of mine goes with it._

_What do you want me to do?_

**_Anything._**

_There is perhaps one thing I could do._ Fury like he'd never felt before crashed over him.

_**Why are you only considering this now?** Why did you sentence him to such suffering when you could have saved his soul before?_

_Because I had to wait and see._

_For **what?**_

_I had to wait and see whether his aibou, the other half of his soul would reconsider and put the puzzle back together. I'm only free to act now._

_What is it you plan to do?_

_To relieve the Pharaoh from his torment, I will take both the spirit of the Tomb Robber and the spirit of your best friend to reside in the Realm of Shadows instead. I shall give them their items as well._

_Very well._ He went back to where Yami was and was pleased to see him gone.

_Thank you._

xXx

A bright glowed in a bedroom, emanating from the pieces of gold resting on the dressing table, illuminating the Dark Magician posters on the wall and the small figure resting in the bed. Then, as sudden as it had arrived, it vanished, taking the Sennen pieces with it.

The Ring, hanging on the corner of the bed, began to glow unnoticed by the boy sleeping on the bed. But not by one Tomb Robber, who was awakened by it and came out of his soulroom, angry at being woken up. He squinted his eyes against the bright light and reached out to grab the Ring, but he vanished just as his fingers grazed the surface, the light and the Sennen Ring going with him.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Brown eyes flashed open and Bakura clambered to his feet, angrily looking around for the idiot that transported him.

Nothing.

Or rather, not the something he was looking for. Living Shadows, twisting and writhing, greeted his eyes. He knew where he was.

The Realm of Shadows.

He growled, "I don't know who the fuck brought me here but I'm sure as hell ain't staying." He closed his eyes in concentration, trying to summon a portal to leave, but frowned when he didn't feel the familiar stirrings in his power, the tingling at his fingertips, the total awareness of everything. He opened his eyes, not really surprised to see the Shadows around him.

He knew that the Pharaoh couldn't be behind this. Something strange had been happening for the past few weeks. He'd been unable to sense the Pharaoh and he knew that if _he_ couldn't then that Pharaoh's brat of a hikari must not sense him either. But that brat had been walking around like everything was right in the world, it even seemed like he was _happier_. Even if the Pharaoh _was_ in the Shadow Realm he would've been able to sense him.

Lately the Pharaoh had ceased making an appearance, and the brat had begun to leave the Puzzle at home more and more. This was _before_ the Pharaoh had disappeared from his senses. He'd told Ryou to find out what was going on but he'd only returned saying that the brat had avoided the question with a small smile on his face.

So where the fuck had the Pharaoh gone?

He growled again, "Ra! So I seem to be unable to escape. Therefore I must be here for a reason. So why the hell am I here?" A gentle heat began to pulsate from his chest. He looked down, shocked to see the Ring resting on his chest, like it was where it belonged. He didn't even notice that it was there; it felt so natural around his neck that only when it _wasn't_ there did he feel uncomfortable – like a part of him was missing.

One of the spikes on the Ring started to glow and pointed vaguely in front of him. He shrugged and followed the directions his Ring was giving him.

He was so intent on following the directions precisely, that he almost tripped over the prone body of the once-proud Pharaoh. As it was, he was halted by the backlash of… well _agony_ seems to be an understatement but that seems to be the best word to describe what he felt.

He frowned, knowing that even if the Pharaoh was sleeping he would have sensed him and woken up immediately. But he did even twitch; he was just lying there, so very still, no indication of still being apart of this world. Only the deep, pulsating agony radiating from the body convinced Bakura that the pharaoh was still there.

"Pharaoh, get up and tell me what the fuck is going on here."

No response.

He nudged the Pharaoh with his toe, expecting much shouting and cursing. However, he wasn't prepared for the reaction he got.

Atemu's body shuddered and an anguished cry was torn from his throat.

"Please! No more! Stop, I'll…" The rest degenerated into rapid mutterings of half-formed words and disjointed phrases, indistinguishable to Bakura ears.

An unidentifiable emotion welled up in Bakura. It felt almost like… concern, which was silly when put into words like that since Bakura hated the Pharaoh. But still it worried him, the Pharaoh being in that state. What could reduce the Pharaoh to this? He, who foiled every one of Bakura's schemes, defeated him in every duel, and overpowered him in every fight, reduced to this whimpering shivering mess. It just didn't feel… right.

He knelt next to the Pharaoh, intent on finding out what seemed to be causing him such pain, and froze when he caught sight of the very reason he made so many trips to the Shadow Realm.

The Sennen Puzzle.

Wasn't this an interesting predicament? He was finally in a situation that he'd dreamed of being in many times. And now, with the Pharaoh out cold at his feet, and the Puzzle within spitting distance, Bakura was _this _close to achieving his goal. His hand was already reaching out before he'd even organised his thoughts, but something made him pause just as his fingers grazed the surface. Possessing the Puzzle would give him power beyond his wildest dreams, but what good would that do if he was trapped with the Shadows, unable to return? And he'd still have no idea _why_ he had been dragged into the Shadow Realm. But perhaps the Pharaoh knew why…

And besides, he thought with a grin to himself as he picked up the Puzzle, shivering at power that washed over him in waves, if I have to be trapped here for all eternity, then the Pharaoh is going to suffer with me. He placed it over the Pharaoh's neck and stepped back.

There was a flash, and a wave of pure _power_ rushed over him, forcing him to his knees. He waited until his nausea passed, then he glanced up to see the Pharaoh still unconscious. But his skin didn't look so sickly pale and Bakura could sense the overwhelming energy pulsating from the prone body lying in front of him.

He sat down crossed-legged, deciding to wait until the Pharaoh had regained consciousness. He wanted answers and he knew how cranky the bastard could be if he was woken prematurely.

xXx

A groan caused Bakura's eyes to flash open from the light doze he'd been in, his awareness sharpening even more as the fog drifted from his mind. He went and crouched by the Pharaoh, ready to give him that extra push if he had problems waking up.

Atemu tried to push his mind towards wakefulness but the tide of nothingness threatened to pull him under. It felt like he was drowning, his mind struggling to stay afloat in the darkness. It had been put under too much pressure; been tortured too much and now it was too weak to fight the wave that crashed over him and overwhelmed him. Just as he was about to drift back into oblivion, he felt a sharp kick to his side, accompanied by a sudden burst of magic to give it more power. It was just the drive he needed to break through the barrier keeping him submerged. He opened his eyes, an angry retort for whoever had attacked him, but it died on his lips when he caught sight of pale white hair, cascading over broad shoulders. It seemed to glow against the oppressive darkness of the Shadow Realm. He shifted his gaze upwards, and his crimson eyes locked with curious brown ones.

It was as he contemplating the curiosity he found in that gaze that the real meaning of his last thought hit him.

'…glow against the oppressive darkness of the Shadow Realm.'

…the Shadow Realm.

The _Shadow Realm_!

That panicked thought gave him the adrenaline rush needed to push himself upright and face the only other person in the Realm of the Shadows. He growled.

"Tomb Robber what have you done? Why have you taken me here?"

"Me? And here I was wondering if _you _could tell _me _why the hell we're here."

"Stop fucking around Thief!"

"Who's fucking around? If I'd really brought you here, then I would have relieved you of the Puzzle and escaped back to the real world." He scowled bitterly, biting out reluctantly, "As it stands, I can't leave the Shadow Realm. I have my powers, but they just don't seem to be doing any good." Atemu started to growl again in annoyance before viciously stopping himself, breathing deeply to rein in his anger. He knew that if he didn't he would end up alienating the only person who could – as much as he hated to admit it – help him escape and maybe answer a few questions. It was then where his adrenaline high just simply vanished and his arms buckled beneath him, landing him on his side, rather painfully as well. He transferred onto his back and just lay there, trying to re-gather his energy, not remembering why his soul seemed so crushed and weak like it was ripped apart and put together hastily; finding it hard to focus his thoughts, his mind feeling so battered and drained.

He just caught the end of the Thief's muttering under his breath and he raised his eyebrow at the information he gleaned.

"…save that bastard's life. Ra, if this is what I get for _trying_ to be helpful then being good can go fuck itself – I've done my good deed for both lifetimes."

"And how, pray tell, did you 'save my life'?" Bakura's head snapped up from where he was looking at his feet, and he glared at Atemu.

"When I found when I first got here, you were out cold and seemed like you no longer lived. I saw your Puzzle lying next to you." At this point he shrugged. "I was going to take it, but I decided to put it on you instead. It was the Puzzle that gave you the power to wake up. It also made you look healthier." Atemu had to admit – albeit grudgingly – that the Tomb Robber probably did save his life.

He pushed his pride aside for a second to do what was needed.

"Well then, I'll thank you for saving me." The words came as if they were being dragged out with pliers. Bakura smirked, knowing how much his pride had been aggravated. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and they fell into silence.

Surprisingly, it was Bakura that broke the uncomfortable quiet that had descended around them.

"So Pharaoh, where the hell have you been for the past few weeks? It's not like you to want to be away from your _hikari_." He spat the last word like it was poison in his mouth. He didn't know why, but the Pharaoh's brat always seemed to piss him off to the extent that he had to sit on his hands to stop them from reaching out and wrapping his hands around that thin, frail neck. There was just something about him…his constant cheerful outlook on life; the way he always believed that there was _good _in everyone and therefore was constantly being taken advantage of, the way he tried to befriend everyone even though they told him point-blank that would rather have their toenails burnt off with sulphuric acid (that was his personal view but he was sure that there were others out there like himself). And his friends made him want to slit his own throat rather than listen to their shit. With that bitch that kept on going on about the power of friendship – it was painfully obvious that she had no idea about **real** life – and the way she chased after the Pharaoh like a bitch in heat. Then there was the brown-haired idiot that never made any sense and only seemed to talk just to hear the sound of his own voice. And finally there was the mutt, who every time he opened his mouth he seemed to prove once again how much of an idiot he really was.

Atemu couldn't explain the pure, unadulterated _fury_ rushed through his body and filled his veins like a drug just at the mere mention of his aibou. Shouldn't he love and want to protect his aibou? Why was he here, leaving Yugi all alone and vulnerable to attack?

"I…I..." the Pharaoh's eyes widened considerably as shock seemed to settle in. "I…don't…remember." Now it was Bakura's time to widen his eyes.

"What do mean you can't remember? What _happened_ to you?"

"I. Don't. _Know_!" Then with an agonised shout, that made even Bakura flinch, Atemu brought his hands up to clutch at his head. The Pharaoh was actually trembling, trying his hardest to push his fragile mind to search for any fragment of his lost memory. He squeezed his eyes shut and ran a hand agitatedly through his hair. He closed out all distractions, his concentration fully on trying to regain his memory.

His fingers constricted on his head reflexively as…something flashed into being in his mind.

**_A tortured scream._**

His body curled up on itself, his hands still attached to his head.

_Don't you see what you've become over the last several months?_

A whimper escaped his lips.

_I don't need you anymore!_

A cry was torn from his throat.

_You're right, it doesn't have to be._

**_A piece of his soul stripped away._**

_Darkness_

A scream wrenched from his soul, erupted from his mouth, making Bakura clasp his hands tight around his ears just to get away from it.

_…the crazed mutterings of a tortured soul_

**_His mind, twisting and warping under the deceptive hands of the Darkness._**

Images blinked across the broken fragments of a once strong mind.

_The darkness was his only friend now_

"Stop…stop…make it stop. Please just make it stop." Another whimper. "Oh Gods I can't take this anymore."

Bakura was trying to fight against the wave upon wave of intense emotion, threatening to make him scream as well. There was an unbelievable amount of fear that seemed to taint every emotion emanating from the Pharaoh. Anger, there was so much anger that writhed and twisted its way through the rest; drops of it leaking out to pollute the pure Darkness of the Shadow Realm. Hate, that flared brightly against the other emotions, briefly drowning out the others, feeding and growing on itself. Betrayal, like a bitter taste in his mouth, bits of it sprinkled throughout, immersed in everything. And the pain. Oh gods the pain, so much of it that it overflowed from the prone body, overwhelming the other emotions, digging into Bakura like a knife to his soul. Sweat broke out on his skin as he fought not to let it overpower him, but there was so much; it tore at his mind and made his soul ache. His fingers brushed the Ring and his grasped a hold of it like it was his only lifeline.

Peaceful, calming rays spilled out of the Ring, soothing away all the pain causing his body to sag with relief. He collapsed next to Atemu and stared at him in wonder. He was now resting peacefully, the gentle, comforting rays had touched him as well, which was unheard of because the Items didn't help anyone apart from the holder, and even that was iffy at best.

How could he have stood all of that, when he himself was just barely conscious from only feeling the backlash of it? He settled down next to Atemu, closing his eyes exhaustedly. They'd sort thing out when there wasn't a huge possibility of one of them passing out in the middle of talking.

xXx

I was planning on have Bakura and Atemu argue in this chapter then have Shadi contact them (or visa versa) and them find out what was happening but I got an idea so I just…ran with it.

Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Atemu had never been so shocked in his life. One second he was shaking the Tomb Robber by his shoulder to wake him up; the next, he had a knife at his throat with an angry Tomb Robber wielding it. He'd never seen someone move so fast, and where the hell did the knife come from?

"Calm down, Tomb Robber! It's me, Atemu." Oh sure, he _sounded_ confident but really he was petrified. One little slip, one tiny flick of his wrist and it would be his blood spilt on the floor.

"I'm well aware of who it is, Pharaoh. Just let this serve as a warning; never try and wake me up or you may find yourself with your throat slit." He pressed the knife firmly against his throat briefly, before he moved away, the knife disappearing with a whisper of smoke.

"Point duly noted." Atemu replied dryly, sitting up and glaring at Bakura, wishing to wipe that damnable smirk off of his face.

"Good, back to the matter at hand. What the fuck is going on?"

"You have such a way with words Tomb Robber." A growl from Bakura stopped any further laughing at his expense and Atemu turned serious.

"Right, first of all, tell me what you know and I can fill in the gaps."

"Fine. First of all I noticed that the brat started leaving the Puzzle at home. Strange, but not really any of my business if you'd had a falling out or something, so I left it alone. But suddenly one day I stopped being able to sense you and the brat seemed unusually happy. A few weeks later I get pulled here." Atemu nodded solemnly.

"Right well, Yugi had been feeling…discontented with me. He felt that I had taken over his life and that people liked me better than him. So he decided that leaving me at home was better alternative. A few weeks ago – well I guess it's been that long. I haven't been able to keep track of the time – we had a massive argument where he took apart the Puzzle and damned me to hell." Bakura and Atemu both shivered – Atemu from the memory of that torturous time and Bakura from the emotions he experienced. "I had no idea of the passage of time. I was barely conscious until you woke me up here.

Bakura sighed and raked an angry hand through his hair. "So in conclusion, we have no idea what the fuck is going on."

Atemu let out a bitter laugh. "Apparently not."

_Maybe **I** can shed some light on what's going on. _Bakura immediately tensed at the unknown voice.

"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded but was brought up short when he heard the voice laugh.

_The Pharaoh knows who I am. _It was then that Bakura noticed that Atemu had been unnaturally quiet. He turned to look at him and found the Pharaoh pale with a wide-eyed-and-clueless look on his face. He nudged Atemu's shoulder to get his attention. The Pharaoh looked at him as if he was in a trance which frustrated Bakura to no end.

"Well?" At the Pharaoh's blank look he was forced to elaborate. "Who is it then?" he said slowly as if talking to someone stupid. Atemu opened his mouth to speak, but stopped and shook his head instead. He repeated this several times until Bakura could take it no more and drew back to let loose a punch right at the Pharaoh's jaw. The contact knocked him out of the funk he seemed to be in. Atemu glared at Bakura before deliberately turning his back on him.

"Mahaado, I thought you were lost to me. How is it you are speaking to me?" he whispered, fearful it was just his twisted imagination conjuring up another illusion to break him.

_It is truly I, my friend._

Tears sprung to his eyes. There was never anyone who could replace his best friend, Mahaado. Bakura just rolled his eyes from all the theatrics.

"How is it possible that you are here? I thought only the Tomb Robber and myself that were sealed in the items only to return again in the future."

_When the Tomb Robber killed me, _at this statement, Atemu had to clench his fists just to stop himself from wrapping them around the Tomb Robber's throat. Either that, or clocking him around the face just to knock that smug smile off of his face. _my_ _soul transferred to the Dark Magician and I became your protector. When you sacrificed your soul to seal the Shadow Games, I was sealed with you so I could continue to guard yo–_

"Yes, that's all fine and dandy but that still doesn't answer why we're in the Shadow Realm." Bakura interrupted, glaring upwards as if it would be able to reach Mahaado.

_Shaadi_ _said that the only way to save the Pharaoh from losing his soul and his mind to the Puzzle was to take him and the Items to the Shadow Realm for protection._

"Wonderful." he said sarcastically. "So why am I here?"

_You misunderstand me Tomb Robber. Yes our actions saved Atemu's life but the aim of our actions was to protect the Items and the spirits which reside in them from further abuse. However the only way to save Atemu was to do this and therefore we chose this method. _

"Riight, so why can't _I_ go home since the Pharaoh here is the only one in danger from his brat."

_**Although the Pharaoh's the only one in danger, there is the chance that your hikari can lock you inside the ring as well. You two are very much dependant on you other halves; if you were to go back you'd be at their mercy because you can't survive without them. Until you learn how to survive without them, you can't leave.**_

"So you mean to say that the only reason we're here was so you could find some unselfish way of saving you _precious_ Pharaoh without upsetting the _delicate balance_ and all that crap?" He turned to glare at Atemu. "Well congratulations Pharaoh. Once again you've managed to get me into another crappy situation." He stood up and stretched, his back arching painfully and multiple cracks sounding as his spine clicked.

"Where are you going?" Atemu demanded. Bakura stared down at him incredulously.

"You don't expect me to hang around while you lot go all nostalgic and take a trip down memory lane? I'd rather fuck Anzu." He smirked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some wandering souls to terrorise." And with that he took off, walking in a seemingly random direction, a sadistic smirk on his pale features.

xXx

Ryou's hand slammed down hard on the alarm and it gave one last ring before it died. He turned over, planning to go back to sleep when it occurred to him that he only set an alarm on a school day and therefore he had to get up. He crawled out of bed and made the bed sluggishly, still half asleep. Once he was satisfied with the made bed he sat down on it. He raised one hand to cover his mouth when he let out a jaw-popping yawn and the other hand reached toward the bedpost, groping around for the Ring. He pulled his hand back, shocked, when he couldn't find the Ring and looked to the bedpost for confirmation. He carried on staring at it as if by strength of will he could make it appear. When he realised that it wasn't working, he stopped himself from hyperventilating and tried to think where the Ring could be. He was still pondering this on the way to the bathroom and as he stepped into the shower he figured that Bakura must've gone out last night and left the ring in another place.

He sighed; even though Bakura wasn't the best yami in the world (what an understatement), when he had the Ring with Bakura stowed away inside at school, no one picked on him and if they tried…well Bakura gave them a little trip to the Shadow Realm (if he was really moody) or threatened them really badly (if he was feeling charitable). Apparently no one was allowed to pick on Ryou except Bakura himself. He sighed again as he turned of the shower and stepped out. He got dressed and went down the stairs, hoping to see his ring laying sofa or hanging on the back of a chair…or _something_, but to no avail. The living room was empty. He closed his eyes in attempt to reach Bakura through the bond; he got absolutely nothing. Oh, the link was still there but Ryou couldn't sense Bakura at the other end. Ryou decided that now was a good time to panic since there obviously was a problem. He throttled a sigh as it threatened to escape his mouth – seeing as it was becoming a habit - , went to the kitchen and made himself some breakfast. He finished, not even half of his breakfast eaten, and left the house, grabbing his bag which was by the door. He decided that he would talk to Yugi when he got to school and see if he knew what was going on.

He was lucky; he made to school without any incidents. Since he was a little early for school, he moved over to where Yugi was sitting along with the rest of the gang.

"Hi everyone." He smiled as he got various responses from everyone. "Hey Yugi, could I talk to you for a second?"

Yugi turned to look at Ryou. "Sure, what's up?"

"Something bad has happened; the Ring's disappeared and I can't sense Bakura." Both of Yugi eyebrows rose.

"I thought you'd be elated that the Ring has disappeared." Ryou stared at him, confusion written into his features.

"I know Bakura wasn't the best yami but he did look out for me and keep me company. Why would you think that I'd be glad that Bakura's gone?"

Yugi leaned in and glanced around as if he was about to share a secret. "You know, to get away from all of his abuse." Ryou's eyebrows winged upward in shock and his mouth fell open.

"Oh, gods no! Bakura never abused me. He may have called me names when he was in a bad mood but he never hit me. He said that I wasn't worth his time. The worst he's done is slap me and that was when I was having a nightmare and my screams kept him awake." Now it was Yugi's turn to look shocked. Ryou nodded firmly, putting an end to that speculation. "But anyway, do you know where Atemu is, or where the Puzzle is?" Yugi smirked, one that looked so out of place on his features and was just so very wrong.

"Well Atemu's in the puzzle," At this the smirk got wider, "but I don't know where the Puzzle is."

"Well aren't you at all worried?" Yugi looked puzzled.

"No, why would I be?" Ryou nearly ripped out his hair in frustration.

"Atemu might be in some sort of danger!"

"Why would I care whether he's in danger or not?" At the dawning look of horror on Ryou's face, Yugi scowled. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he's fine anyway." Ryou couldn't believe it. Yugi and Atemu were inseparable; they were the best of friends as well as being as close as brothers. So where did this 180° come from?

"Yugi, _what did you do_?!"

"I took apart the Puzzle."

"_What_?! Why?"

"You didn't know what it was like, Ryou. Atemu was taking over my life! He didn't feel I was competent enough to do anything myself and felt the need to tell me how to live my life. My friends liked him better than me; Kaiba wouldn't duel me, saying that Atemu was really the person to beat; everyone named him as the King of Games. He _stole_ the girl I liked when he didn't even like her himself. It was like everyone forgot about me now that they had a better version to hang out with. I wasn't gonna let him steal _my _life, so I just trapped him in the Puzzle."

"Yugi, how could you do that to your other half?"

"I don't see what the big deal is; I just trapped him in the Puzzle. The only problem he'll face is being by himself. I spent the first 13 years of my life alone so he can do it too." Ryou straightened and schooled his features into a blank mask.

"You have no idea, do you?" It was a rhetorical question, one that caused Yugi to scowl and glare at Ryou. "First of all, that's not really comparable; you spent only 13 years alone, Atemu will spend the rest of eternity alone, and since you don't know where the Puzzle is there's no chance of saving him. Secondly, you have no idea of what really happens to a spirit trapped in an Item. Didn't Atemu ever tell you what it was like being in that Puzzle for 3 millennia?" At the continued glare on Yugi's face, Ryou carried on. "It was torture, pure and simple. Atemu's going to have his soul twisted and tormented, his mind ripped to shreds. He endured that for 3 millennia, and now he'll endure it again for the rest of his existence, or at least until his spirit crumbles under the pain." Ryou turned and walked away, moving to the other side of the classroom. "I hope you're proud of yourself, Yugi, because you'll have to live with your decision for the rest of your life."

xXx

Ryou stopped talking to Yugi ever since that day. He still talked with Jou and the rest of them but whenever Yugi came, Ryou walked away. Yugi was still resolute in his decision, feeling that Ryou was exaggerating just to make him feel guilty. Weeks went by, and then months. Ryou withdrew more and more from the rest of the world, only leaving his house to go to school and do grocery shopping. He hadn't seen his father in forever so he was left alone in his house. Even though he talked to the others, he wasn't a part of their tight-knit group so there weren't many attempts made to draw him out of his self-induced isolation.

Soon years had gone by. Everyone had graduated and gone to college. With no more power-hungry maniacs to threaten the citizens of Domino city, everyone's life settled into a routine. Ryou was so bored that he wished for the days when Bakura tried to take the Sennen Items, anything to break up this stifling boredom that seemed to have descended on all of them.

Even Kaiba was disgusted with the monotony of his life. Every day was the same thing for him and he was determined to do something drastic to break it. Work swamped his life and he wasn't able to duel, now that the one and only opponent that felt the same passion for the game, had the same ruthlessness, and who he didn't mind losing to (although he would sooner admit to watching Pokémon than admit that), had disappeared without a trace and hadn't been seen for several years. He and Atemu were the only ones that had battled on a regular basis since Battle City, and since they'd stopped, interest for the game was waning. Even if he was unable to duel didn't mean that was going to let the game that had been a focal point throughout his whole life die out.

He got to work; made a few phone calls, found a date where he wasn't swamped with work and reserved the whole of KaibaLand for this event. About a month after his initial idea, everything was ready for the public.

What did he do?

Organise the first ever tag-team duel tournament.

xXx


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Red Eyes Skull Dragon, Inferno Fire Blast!"

That attack obliterated the last of their opponents' life points. The platform lowered as the match finished, however Jou didn't wait for it to hit the ground; he was already making his way over to his duelling partner. He gathered him up in a rib-cracking hug.

"Yug', we did it!"

"Great Jou, of course we did! But you'll have to find another partner if you crack my ribs." Jou dropped Yugi as if he was on fire. He smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry man," However that didn't last long, as a grin broke out across Jou's face. "But do you know what this means Yug'? We're in the quarter finals!"

"Of course we are. Did you ever think it would turn out any different?" Yugi smiled. "Now the quarter finals aren't until tomorrow, what do you wanna do now?" The grin that lit up Jou's face was positively blinding.

"Let's go watch the other matches to see who else is in the quar–" he was interrupted when a boy rushed by him, accidentally knocking into him. "Hey! Watch where you're goin', kid!"

"Sorry man, I'm in a hurry. I don' wanna miss them again."

"Miss who?"

The boy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Those two mysterious duellists who've won all that matches in like, less than five minutes." And with that he took off running again. Yugi and Jou shared a look before taking off running after him.

They arrived in time to see the match end, one tag team eliminating the others' life points. The strange thing was that the winning team was wearing hooded cloaks, obscuring their faces. As soon as the two departed, whispers broke out in the crowd that had gathered to watch the duel. Yugi listened intently to them, some of them shocking him.

'…that was their quickest duel yet!'

'…like every card in each deck was picked to compliment perfectly the other's deck.'

'…no one knows who they are, not even Kaiba.'

Yugi eyes widened; he wondered who these new duellists were and if they were a threat to domino. He'd heard of accidents happening after duels: opponents fainting and dropping into comas for no reason. It was Battle City all over again and he had to stop it. He just hoped that if it came to it, they would be able to beat them.

xXx

"Where are we going? Dammit, slow down and tell me why you left so quickly."

"You'll never guess who I saw."

"Who, Santa?"

SMACK!

"Don't be stupid. I saw that back-stabbing, spoilt, little traitor."

"Oh. So did the brat know it was you?"

"No, he didn't even know that I was looking at him." Suddenly they both stopped and looked at each other.

"Yep, I felt that too."

"So tell me again why we can't go after them."

He sighed, "Because the people duelling in this tournament aren't the main evil; they're just lackeys – very _talented_ lackeys. When we duel them – which we will, I'll make sure of that –" at this point he tapped the Item resting on his chest. "We can make it a Shadow duel so if they agree to our terms they will have to follow through or risk a penalty game. When they lose they will have to take us to their leader." He frowned. "I feel like a Martian from one of those movies that the brat used to watch."

He laughed. "Whatever. C'mon, let's go."

"So where are we going?"

"You may hate your hikari, but _I_ left my hikari without as much as a 'see ya later' so I'm gonna look for him. I know he's here."

"I wonder how Ryou managed to cope."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, although Ryou was friends with the brat, he wasn't really included in their inner circle of friends. So without you for company, and since his father hardly ever visits him, he would have been quite alone for all those years."

"Hn, I never even thought of it like that. Your brat's a bastard."

He laughed, "Don't I know it."

xXx

Ryou sat alone in a stadium seat, the stadium where the finals would be held. He'd come here to be alone after he'd stormed out of his house and wandered down to KaibaLand , sick and tired of watching the tournament coverage that only seemed to cover Yugi and his matches. He sighed (after all those years, he still didn't manage to lose that habit) and dropped his head into his hands. He wanted to compete in this tournament but since his self imposed isolation, he didn't have anybody to partner with and therefore wasn't 'qualified' to enter.

"I wish Bakura was here." He may have ignored him when he was there but still, there would still _be _someone there for him.

"Yeah, 'cause life's too boring when I'm not around." Came a familiar voice from next to him.

"Oh Ra, what an ego!" Came another voice, one he'd thought he'd never hear again.

Ryou's head snapped up and he looked at the two people there with him.

"Bakura?" he whispered. The person who'd spoken first reached up and pulled down his hood. White hair tumbled over his shoulders, much longer than he remembered Bakura having, and reddish-brown eyes locked with his own brown ones. Once it registered that it _was_ Bakura standing before him, he leaped up and flung his arms around him, a huge grin on his face. Soon he realised something strange.

First of all, he was _hugging_ Bakura.

Second of all, he was hugging _Bakura_.

And last of all, Bakura was hugging him back.

Suddenly his elation turned into anger. He leaned back and hit Bakura on the arm, _hard_.

"Just where the hell have you been. You left me alone for _four years_! And now you just waltz back into my life without so much as an explanation to where you've been! I've been so lonely and I was picked on after you'd left and I had no friends and Yugi told he did something _terrible_ and I was so angry with him and…and…" After that tirade, Ryou just seemed to deflate into Bakura and his arms tightened around his waist. There were no sounds of crying but Ryou's shoulders were shaking and Bakura could feel the tears soaking into his shirt. Bakura looked to the other, panicked. Although he had mellowed out in the years that had passed, he was still uncomfortable with emotional displays and he was still unsure of how to comfort another person.

He looked down again and brought his hand up to pat Ryou on the back, trying awkwardly to calm him down.

"Um…please don't cry…erm, just come and sit down, I'll explain everything." He brought Ryou over to the seats and sat him down next to himself, his arm around the boy's shoulders. Ryou slowly stopped crying, using his sleeve to wipe his eyes.

"Alright," he said when he'd finally composed himself. "But first things first," He looked at the other person standing there. "Is that really you Atemu?" He pulled down his hood as well and smiled at Ryou.

"Yep, it's me. I'm finally back."

"But…Yugi told me that he took apart the Puzzle. How is it that you're here? How did you get your own bodies?" At the mention of Yugi's name, Atemu scowled and bared his teeth in a silent snarl. Ryou, seeing this, figured that he must have offended the Pharaoh and shrunk down, shuffling closer to Bakura. Atemu saw this and smiled at Ryou to reassure him, moving over to sit in the seat next Ryou.

"Right well, after he took apart the Puzzle, I got trapped inside as you probably already know." Ryou nodded. "But after a few…weeks I guess it was, I'm still not too sure of the passage of time," At this, Ryou shuddered; just thinking about what Atemu must have been through was enough to make him feel sick. "Anyway, I along with Bakura and the Items were taken to the Shadow realm, however we couldn't return to this realm because we were taken there for protection and we were still dependant on our Items and our other halves. So we worked on increasing our power until we were strong enough to materialise in our own bodies." Ryou's eyes had progressively gotten wider and wider. At the end of Atemu explanation, he looked to Bakura for confirmation. He just nodded.

_Should we tell him about…?_

_NO! No, I don't want my hikari to worry._

_You really have changed so much – for the better, of course. _Bakura just smirked. Finished with their mental conversation, they turned to Ryou.

"Anything else you need to know Ryou?"

"Are you two back for good?" he asked, hoping and praying with every fibre of his being that the answer would be 'yes' so he wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

Bakura smirked, "I suppose we can stick around from now on." It was like the sun broke over the clouds the way Ryou's smiled. Then suddenly something occurred to him.

"So where have you been staying since the beginning of the tournament."

Bakura and Atemu shared a glance before looking at Ryou. "The Shadow Realm." They said in unison, watching how Ryou's eyes widened.

"The _Shadow Realm_! But doesn't that place make you weak, being there for long periods of time? Isn't there the danger of losing your souls to the Shadow Realm?"

"Hikari," Ryou's mouth dropped open; that was the first time that Bakura had called him that. "We've been in the Shadow realm for the past 4 years. I think we're used to it." Composed once more, Ryou spoke again.

"Well you can't stay there anymore. What if I need to contact you? No, you can't stay there. How about you come and stay with me? Even though I'm in college I decided to keep the house, for privacy."

"Thanks Ryou. Listen, I'm going to find Kaiba. You two go on ahead, I'll find you later." Atemu took off, pulling his hood back over his head. He raised his arm and his duel disk disappeared in wisp of smoke. Bakura pulled his hood up as well then did the same, the duel disk seemingly evaporating. He took Ryou by the hand (reducing him to speechlessness yet again) and they made their way toward the stadium exit.

xXx

"Ah so here you are Kaiba. Why aren't you duelling in your own tournament?" he mumbled to himself as he made his way up to the gate of Kaiba's KaibaLand office. He went to walk through, but was stopped by a hand on his chest from one of the security guards. He looked up (and up and up) until he locked eyes with the security guard. He smiled a disarming smile and stepped back out of his reach. "I'll let you go this time since you obviously don't know who I am, but next time I won't be so lenient and report you to Seto." And he just waltzed straight past the guard, who was looking quite confused. Atemu called back over his shoulder, "However, you're doing a good job protecting Seto, keep up the good work."

He walked up the driveway and slipped past the lookout guarding the entrance to the building (who was actually having a quick smoke around the corner). He sauntered right past the receptionist, ignoring her call of him having to sign in and state why he was here. He stepped into the glass elevator, which had chosen that exact second to arrive and pressed the button to close the doors, sealing out the guards attempting to apprehend him. He waved goodbye as the lift started its ascent, smirking at their infuriated expressions. Knowing that Kaiba would choose the top floor for his office he pressed the corresponding number, but just to check he reached out with his powers, sensing for him. Glad that he had confirmation, he waited for the lift to arrive.

He moved swiftly out of the elevator, not even waiting for the doors to fully open and made his way to the office. Not even knocking, he stepped into the office, but was disappointed to see that Kaiba wasn't there. He sat on the huge, mahogany desk and waited.

Seto Kaiba stepped out of his en suite bathroom back into his office and was stunned to see a hooded figure _sitting_ on **_his_** _desk_.

"Who are you and how did you get past security?"

"Kaiba, your security sucks, and I'm hurt that you don't recognise me." He placed a hand on his chest dramatically.

"Forgive me, but I have problems recognising hooded people. Your hood doesn't look familiar to me." he replied sarcastically.

Atemu laughed and removed his hood. "Ah, did you miss me Kaiba?"

Kaiba switched from sarcastic to angry in 0.2 seconds flat. "You! Just where the hell have you been! You've been missing for _four fucking years_!"

Atemu laughed again. "I take that as a 'yes'. And since you don't believe in all that 'hocus pocus magick crap' – although you should since me sitting on your desk is proof enough – I can't tell you where I've been, you won't believe me." He smirked at Kaiba, knowing that it would annoy him more.

"Right, well let's just pretend that I _do_ believe in all that hocus pocus magick crap. Tell me where the fuck you've been."

"Okay, well 4 years ago the brat and I–"

"Waaaaiiiit a second, who's 'the brat'?"

"Oh right, you know him as Yugi Mutou." Kaiba was surprised by the venom in Atemu's voice. He moved over to his black, leather sofa in the corner, knowing that it was going to be a long and interesting story. He gestured for Atemu to continue. "Anyway, we had a massive argument. You don't need to know all the intricate details, but just know that it had been brewing for quite some time. He took apart the Puzzle, sealing me inside. Now, in those 3 millennia between the time when I was Pharaoh and when he completed the Puzzle, I was basically tortured by the Darkness inside the puzzle. And after he took it apart 4 years ago I was tortured again. It would have carried on like that but a good friend of mine managed to save me by having me, the Items and Bakura – you know the spirit of Ryou's Ring – taken to the Shadow Realm. We stayed there, increasing our power until we were powerful enough to sustain ourselves in our own bodies, so to prevent what happened to me from happening again." He stood up and turned in a circle as if presenting himself. "And here I am. Bakura's with Ryou right now."

Even though Kaiba's face had stayed impassive throughout the whole story, inside he was reeling. He never knew that Yugi could be so spiteful, and he knew the story to be true. There was no question in his mind whether Atemu had been lying to him. The Atemu he knew was as protective of Yugi as he was of Mokuba (well at least he was, during Battle City) and therefore he would have never left unless something serious had happened.

"Well, it's um…good that you're back. Now is there anything you want to talk to me about?" Yes, even Kaiba had relaxed in those four years (although he would still never admit that he didn't mind losing to Atemu) and was even nice sometimes, although only to people he thought deserved it. He still didn't suffer fools lightly.

"Actually yes there is. Why didn't you enter your own tournament? I was looking forward to facing you again."

"First of all, who could I have had a partner? And second of all, there was no point entering a competition where I would never be really challenged since my only rival had disappeared. It would've been a hollow victory."

"I'm sure you could've found someone." He waved his hand dismissively. "I never knew our matches meant something to you."

Kaiba snorted. "Of course they did. That was the only time I could really challenge myself. You know, push myself to the limits. When we used to duel it seemed to be much more than a mere card game."

Atemu nodded emphatically. "Exactly. When was the last time you duelled, Kaiba?"

Kaiba smirked. "The last duel we ever had." Atemu rolled his eyes.

"Listen, I've got to go now. I'm supposed to be meeting up with Bakura and Ryou. But before I leave I have one other thing to ask you. You've noticed that there something strange going on, right?" When Kaiba nodded, he continued. "What exactly has been happening?"

At this, Kaiba growled. "It's Battle City all over again. At the end of a duel the opponents of this duel tag-team just faint – drop into comas that no one can explain. I can't do anything to stop it because there isn't enough evidence to kick them out of the tournament. What could I say? 'They used some sort of magick to hurt these people.' Oh yes, they'd just cart me away in a strait jacket." He ran a hand through his hair roughly. "Why is it that these lunatics always choose _my_ tournaments to practise their insanity?" Atemu laughed as he jumped off the desk and walked over to where Kaiba was sitting on the sofa.

"Well that's why I and Bakura are here; to stop them. So just forget about it." He stretched out his hand in the universal gesture for a handshake. "However, despite all the crap that going on, we should do this again sometime. Maybe next time we could get in a duel or two." Kaiba got to his feet and clasped Atemu's hand in a firm handshake. "I would greatly like if you could consider us friends, Kaiba."

Kaiba smirked again. "Well then, you'd better start calling me Seto." A huge grin broke out across Atemu's face and he broke the handshake to go to the door, pulling his hood back over his head as he walked. Just as he was about to leave, he called back over his shoulder,

"See you later, Seto!" and then shut the door behind him. Only to come face to face with the security guards from earlier.

"How're you doing?" Atemu said, already pushing his way through the crowd of guards, only to be stopped by a handcuff being slapped across one wrist. He raised an eyebrow. "What seems to be the problem officer?" he said with a completely straight face, and then he suddenly burst out laughing. "Sorry, I've always wanted to say that." He said, not in the least bit apologetic.

"You're to come with us for questioning." intoned one guard, the one who had Atemu handcuffed.

"Well that's just– SETO!" The door behind him abruptly opened revealing an amused Seto Kaiba, who'd taken in the scene and was now doing his best not to start laughing at Atemu.

"What's going on here?"

"Nothing sir, we're just taking this young man here in for questioning. He bypassed security downstairs and didn't sign in at the reception. We're just doing our jobs, sir."

"Well that's really noble, except you're about ten minutes to late. If he was really here to hurt me, he would've been done with it and gone by now. As it stands, he is my…friend so it would do you well to let him go. You're lucky I'm in a charitable mood today, or you would be looking for another job right now." As he said, he didn't suffer fools lightly. He scowled at the man that had Atemu handcuffed, scaring him into releasing him and then dismissed them. "See you later Atemu."

"Bye-bye Seto,"

xXx

"C'mon, Ryou let's go and get something to eat, my treat. I haven't eaten in about 3 millennia." He smirked down at Ryou.

"Not to be rude or anything, but how are _you_ going to treat me? I don't think you have any money." Bakura's smirk turned into a grin.

"That can be sorted really easily." He looked around the crowd of people and saw a man pay for some food. He saw where he put his wallet and watched him start walking vaguely in their direction. He let go of Ryou's hand and put himself in the man's path. Then he started walk and when the man was close enough he pretended to stumble into him, giving himself an excuse to be that close. A quick slip of the hand and Bakura had 'liberated' the man's wallet with his knowing. He grinned at Ryou and waved him over.

"See, what did I tell you? Easy."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Some things never change."

"Why change a good thing?" This caused Ryou to laugh for the first time in a very long time.

They left KaibaLand and started walking to a fast food place, Bakura drawing many stares from the other pedestrians because of his hood. They stepped into the restaurant, Bakura moving to stand in line while Ryou went to find a seat. Just as Bakura was ordering though, the doors to the restaurant opened again and Yugi and all of his friends entered the shop. Bakura swore in three different languages. He decided to contact Ryou to let him know what was going on.

_Ryou, _Ryou's head shot up at the voice he heard distinctly in his head, one that he recognised irrefutably. But the strange thing was that Bakura's voice wasn't coming through the link, which had disappeared mere hours after he realised the Ring was missing. No, his voice was just…there in his head.

_Yes Bakura?_

_Yugi-tachi have just entered the restaurant. We have to leave; I don't want them to know about me but it's not that big of a deal if they find out. However they **cannot **know about Atemu, for obvious reasons. _Ryou nodded, although Bakura wouldn't be able to see it, and got up making his way over to him.

_I don't really talk to them anymore anyway, and I haven't talked to Yugi in four years. He told me what he did to Atemu so…_Bakura smiled when he heard that.

_I always told you not to be friends with them. _He said as he asked for the meal to be put in a takeaway bag.

_Yes, but you also said that Anzu was really a man, so forgive me for not believing you. _Bakura's laughter echoed in his head.

It was Jou that first realised that one of the mysterious duellists from the tournament were in the restaurant. He nudged Yugi with his elbow and pointed him out.

"C'mon Yug', let's go and find out who he is." Yugi nodded and they made their way over to the hooded figure.

Just as Bakura was picking up the takeaway bag, he was tapped on the shoulder. But as Jou was about to open his mouth to ask a question, Ryou appeared by Bakura's side. Bakura grabbed his hand and was about to walk off when Jou grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around to face him.

"Wait a second; Ryou, you know this guy?" Ryou hesitated before looking up at Bakura. He wasn't sure what to say.

_Don't worry about it. It's not the end of the world if they find out about me. Knowing that I'm back won't necessarily incriminate Atemu. After all, four years ago we were enemies._

"Yes, I do. Now if you'll excuse us we have to go." Ryou turned to walk away tugging on Bakura's hand, but Jou just tightened his grip on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, who is it Ryou?" Yugi demanded. Ryou just ignored him, instead looking at Bakura, who was just observing for the time being.

"I'm talking to you Ryou. Can't you forget your petty annoyance at me for one second and just answer me? This is important; he and his partner could be another threat to Domino." At Yugi's words a scowl appeared on Ryou's face and he let go of Bakura's hand to glare at Yugi.

"It's hardly petty, the anger I feel towards you and it's perfectly justified. And do you really think I'd be friends with someone who was a threat to Domino?"

"Well you were friends with that Tomb Robber and he was a threat."

"Actually he was only a threat to Atemu, so that doesn't count."

"Forget about all this, let's just take off his hood and find out who he is." Using his other hand, Jou went for the hood but was stopped when Bakura grabbed his hand and squeezed, hard.

"Try and touch me again, idiot, and you'll lose that hand." And with that he used his one hand to push both of Jou's away from himself. Then he grabbed Ryou's hand, and with the food in one hand and Ryou in the other, he left the shop, leaving a scowl Yugi behind him. It was as they were walking through the door that they bumped into Atemu.

"You don't wanna go in there; the brat and his friends are there. We just had a confrontation, and get this; the brat feels that Ryou's anger toward him is 'petty'." They started walking toward Ryou's house. Atemu looked at Ryou.

"Did you tell Yugi what would happen to me inside the puzzle?"

"Yeah, it was the morning of when the Ring disappeared. I told exactly what would happen to you but he brushed it off. I think he thinks I was exaggerating or something. Either that, or he just doesn't care."

"Probably the latter. As I said, your brat's a bastard."

"I know Bakura, I know."

xXx

"Home sweet home." Bakura said, taking down his hood. Atemu smiled at him and did the same.

"Bakura, you spent most of your time on the streets. I would think you'd consider that your home."

"Yeah but here, you get three square meals a day for free." Atemu cracked up laughing while Ryou just shook his head.

"God, you're terrible, Bakura."

"Yes but you love me anyway, Ryou." Ryou rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, your old room is still as you left it, so you can stay there and Atemu we can put you up in the spare room. Okay?" Bakura and Atemu shared a look which went straight over Ryou's head, who was already taking the food over to the coffee table to sort out. Atemu smirked.

"Sure Ryou, that's great. Thank you for letting us stay here."

"It was the least I could do." For some reason, that made Atemu frown.

_Your hikari's been so lonely. He's doing everything to get us to stay with him._

_Well we'll just have to keep on reminding him that we're not gonna leave him alone again. _Bakura turned to look at Atemu. _We're not going to have to leave him when this is all over, are we?_

_We'll do everything in our power to stay. Ryou's such a nice person. Besides, I'm sick of the Shadow Realm. _This caused Bakura to smile.

"Alright," Ryou broke in, unknowingly interrupting their moment, "Which is which?" Bakura went over to the food to peek at one of the burgers. He smiled.

"This one's mine." He said then took a huge bite out of it.

"How do you know?" asked Atemu as he moved to sit on the couch next to Bakura.

"Because I ordered it extra rare." Then he happily took another bite out of it.

"Oh, Bakura that's disgusting." Ryou pulled a face. Bakura just grinned, revealing a mouth full of chewed meat. That is, until Atemu slapped him around the back of the head making him nearly choke. Bakura swallowed and glared at Atemu before turning to Ryou.

"The cheese burger's yours." He watched Ryou's face light up like a Christmas tree.

"You remembered!" He smiled and eagerly dug into his food. Atemu grabbed the remaining package.

"So what did you get me?" Bakura, mouth full with another chunk of near-raw meat, decided not to risk Atemu's wrath by talking with his mouth open and instead contacted him telepathically.

_Oh I didn't know what to get you so I got you the same as me. _Atemu's expression twisted into one of disgust and he glared at Bakura.

SMACK!

"Bastard, what am I supposed to eat?" Bakura clutched the back of his head.

_What the fuck! That's the third time you've done that today. Ra, I was only joking. _Atemu switch from angry to smiling immediately.

"Then I forgive you." he said before digging into his own food. Ryou had been watching the exchange and was thoroughly confused. All he heard was Atemu talking to a seemingly unresponsive Bakura. But that couldn't be the case. He swallowed his food before speaking.

"What just happened?" Then suddenly, as if a light bulb went off in his head, he understood. "You're both telepathic."

Bakura nodded. "Yeah, it's something we picked up in the Shadow Realm."

"So that time in the restaurant, when we were talking, it was because of your telepathy not because the link we share."

"Right, Bakura and I are no longer dependant on the Items or you. That's why the link between us and our hikaris has disappeared. Not that I'd _want_ to be linked with that brat…"

"It was so strange, being alone in my head for all those years. It took me a while to get used to being only one person again." He said, putting another fry in his mouth.

Bakura, who had finished his food and was now sipping on his drink, looked at Ryou. "Hey, how would you like to be linked with me again?"

Ryou eyes widened. "But how? You just said that the link between us disappeared because of your independence. How are you going to…?"

"C'mere." Ryou leaned forward and Bakura touched his forehead with his index finger he held it for a second then smirked. "Done."

"Done? That's it? What did you do?"

"I just established a link in your mind." And with that he gathered up his rubbish, stood up and made his way to the kitchen.

"Ryou, come here." Ryou moved and sat next to Atemu, who repeated the same actions as Bakura, establishing a link in Ryou's mind as well.

Ryou looked thoroughly confused (for about the seventh time that day). "But…why?"

Atemu smiled. "Just in case anything happens and Bakura's…otherwise occupied. This way you can contact me anytime." Atemu became serious. "Seriously though, if at anytime you feel the need to contact me or Bakura, do it. Bakura may end up being a little grumpy but just ignore that." He stood up and grabbed his and Ryou's rubbish to take in the kitchen. "Bakura's always grumpy."

"I heard that!" Came Bakura's indignant voice from the kitchen

"You were supposed to!" Atemu said back as he entered the kitchen and shut the door behind him. Ryou smiled at their antics as he switched on the TV and settled down to find something to watch.

xXx

Atemu dumped his rubbish in the bin and turned around to head back into the living room, only to be stopped by Bakura who was standing right in front of him. Atemu raised an eyebrow but before he could open his mouth to talk he was stopped by Bakura's mouth on his.

A moan escaped Atemu as he brought his arms up to wrap around Bakura's neck, one hand burying itself in soft, white hair. Atemu stepped closer, moving himself flush against his lover as he sought to deepen the kiss. He parted his lips just as Bakura's tongue nudged them, eagerly venturing forth with his own tongue to tangle with Bakura's. They parted, leaning their foreheads together as they caught their breath.

"I've wanted to do that all day." Bakura's whispered, his hands moving under Atemu shirt to caress his stomach.

Atemu smirked. "Then don't stop." Then he leaned forward, pressing his lips to Bakura's and immediately opening his mouth to Bakura's explorations. Just as the kiss was heating up, they heard a startled gasp and a thump. They both reluctantly broke the kiss and turned to find Ryou sitting on the floor with his back against the door, expression of shock on his face and a deep blush dusting across his cheeks.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…I just…I'm sorry. I-I-I won't tell anyone if you want to keep it a secret. I'll just go now." And with that garbled rush of words, Ryou jumped to his feet about to flee from the scene to the safety of the living room.

"Ryou, stop."

"What the hell's the matter with you? You're acting like you're gonna be hung, drawn and quartered. Do you think we're angry with you or something?"

"I think he's just embarrassed, love. That, and it must have been quite a shock for him to have seen that. I mean, we haven't given any indication that we were _much _more than friends all day." Ryou slowly relaxed when he realised that they weren't in the least bit angry with him for interrupting, and once he'd gotten past his fear, all that was left was his embarrassment of having witnessed something so…intimate.

"So I'll guess that you don't want to stay in the spare room, Atemu."

"Damn straight. I wasn't going to anyway. After you'd gone to bed I was going to sneak into Bakura's room." Ryou laughed as the last of his awkwardness disappeared.

"Well since we're obviously finished here," Bakura said dryly, "Let's go back into the living room."

They watched TV late into the night, until Ryou had fallen asleep, his head resting on Bakura's shoulder. He carried Ryou upstairs and put him into bed, taking off his trainers and pulling the duvet over him. Then he and Atemu retired to Bakura's room next door where they removed their clothes and got into bed.

"So," said Atemu, breaking the silence. "Tomorrow's the quarter finals and we have to face some nobody in order to advance. I hope we don't see the brat and his friends."

"We probably will. They were pretty determined to find out who we were today."

"Maybe we should tell them who we are, just so that they will leave Ryou alone."

"We'll see what happens."

xXx

13 fucking pages. This is the longest chapter I've ever written. And things are just starting to get interesting. So Bakura and Atemu are lovers. Just what did happen to them in the Shadow Realm? –grin– I'm thinking about writing a side story for what happened in those 4 years in the Shadow Realm, but I probably won't start writing it until I've finished this fic. (And all the other fics I'm supposed to be writing but have gotten sidetracked with writing this and RIFOYF)


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Hey Ryou," he interrupted himself with a jaw-cracking yawn. "You're coming to watch us today, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Everyone's been saying that you are two amazing duellists that win their duels in like, five minutes. I've _got _to see you two duel together." Atemu finished his breakfast and rose to put his bowl in the sink.

"You know, I think I'll get Seto to come and watch us too."

"Oh so now it's '_Seto_' is it?" Atemu just shot him a withering look before continuing.

"Anyway I think he'd enjoy watching us duel (even if it will only last five minutes) and he can keep Ryou company."

"Why would I need to be kept company?" he asked as Atemu took his bowl to the sink to wash up. He thanked him quietly.

"Just in case the brat and all the rest of the idiots show up. They weren't too thrilled last time when you didn't answer them and I threatened to cut off what's-his-name's hand."

"But what could Kaiba do?"

"Well, he didn't seem too pleased with the little bastard when I told him what happened. So if they were to show up, well…let's just say it is _not_ pretty when Seto's angry." Ryou winced; Kaiba's anger was legendary (and destructive).

"So what time's your duel?"

"This afternoon some time." Atemu took Bakura's bowl to wash it and earned himself a kiss on the mouth, causing a huge grin to break out on Atemu's face and a dark blush to colour Ryou's.

"So, what're we doing this morning then?"

"I don't know about you two, but I do _not_ want to go and watch the other matches, especially Yugi's. And since you two are so famous now, or rather _in_famous, we'll never be left alone."

Bakura pointed his thumb in Ryou's direction. "The kid's got a point." Ryou scowled at the 'kid' comment.

"So what do you want to do?" Bakura suddenly smirked, which earned him another smack from Atemu, who'd finished washing up and was standing by the table.

"No we _can't _do that, you pervert." Ryou's blush returned full force; he didn't have to hear what Bakura said to know it had been dirty.

"Hey let's go to Kaiba's mansion." Atemu raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms over his chest in an I-am-not-amused sort of way. "Well since you're such good friends now, I figured we could crash his house and have some fun."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Bakura scowled.

"Can we or can't we?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll let me in, and maybe even Ryou, but I'm sure he'll be too worried about you stealing something to let you in, love."

"Once a thief, always a thief. Gotta keep those skills from getting rusty." This made Ryou burst out laughing from yesterday's memory. Then suddenly he was hit with an idea.

"Hey how about we go to the mall."

"No." Bakura got out before Atemu had even opened his mouth.

"But–"

"No."

"Plea–"

"No."

"Can't I–"

"No." Ryou turned to Atemu, his eyes pleading with him to say 'yes'.

"Sorry Ryou, that won't work on me." Ryou sat back and pouted.

"Ryou, aren't you a little too old to pout?" Ryou glared at Bakura, but it did nothing except make him laugh. "That's not going to make me change my mind."

"Ryou is there anything _else_ you want to do?" Atemu said, stressing the 'else'. Ryou was shocked that they were handing the choice over to him but then he realised that he knew the best about this town and therefore he would know what's what.

"Um…oh! There's this waterpark that I've always wanted to go to but it's no fun by yourself. How about that?" Atemu and Bakura shared a look, and then identical smirks broke out on both their faces.

"Yeah alright, we'll go."

Atemu nodded. "Let me just ask Seto what time our duel is." He closed his eyes.

_Hey Seto,_

_What the…Atemu! What are you doing in my head? I swear…_Loud laughter sounded in his head and he could almost see the smirk on Atemu's face.

_Did you expect any less from me? But I didn't contact you just to annoy you (although now that I know it does, I'll be sure to do it more frequently) I was just wondering what time we should be there for our duel._

The distant echoes of _why me? _could be heard by Atemu before an answer came. _Just be there before 3. And get out of my head!_

Atemu opened his eyes, a small smile on his face. "He says to be there before 3. So if we get to the park by 12 we'll have two hours there."

"Good." Then Bakura smirked. "I get first dibs on the bathroom!" And he scampered out of the kitchen before anyone could open their mouths. Atemu looked at Ryou.

"Don't worry, he won't get far." He waved his hand through the air and upstairs all that could be heard was a _thunk_ and a loud curse.

Ryou looked at Atemu in surprise. "What did you _do_?"

"Just a little spell." He said with a smirk as he waved his hand again and a dark portal opened in the kitchen. "See you later." And with that he stepped inside, the portal closing behind him. Ryou made his way up the stairs, laughing and he spied Bakura on the floor, his hand held up in the air, glowing.

"Bakura, what're you doing?"

A sadistic grin appeared on Bakura's face. "Atemu went into the Shadow Realm, but he won't be able to get out now." Ryou stepped past him and walked towards the bathroom.

"Well since you two seem to be having so much fun, I'll just use the bathroom." The grin slowly fell from Bakura's face as the bathroom door shut in his face.

xXx

"That was very cruel, Atemu."

"Yeah like you were any better, love, locking me in the Shadow Realm."

"I think everything worked out fine." Twin glares were directed at him. He laughed nervously. "Um…right. Let's just get going."

"Hey, how're we gonna get there anyway?"

"Er…bus?"

"You have _got _to be joking. We're driving there."

"In what?" Horror dawned on Ryou's face. "No. No, you are not stealing a car. It will probably be _me_ ending up in prison. No."

"Steal a car?" Bakura looked thoughtful. "No I wasn't thinking of that (I'll save that for another time). Atemu and I will just use some magick."

"How will that work?"

"If we can materialise ourselves in our own bodies, then we can create anything." Then both of them raised their hands and they started to glow a pale blue colour. Motes of light started to gather together to form two objects. Soon the light faded to reveal two motorbikes.

"A motorbike! No! There is no way in hell you are getting me on one of those. No."

"Come on hikari," Bakura said, dragging Ryou toward the bike, acting like hadn't heard a word he just said. "You're riding with me."

"Are you listening to me! I said 'no'!"

"Get on the bike, hikari." He said, getting on himself. Atemu got on his own bike and watched, patiently.

"And what if I said 'no'?"

"Then I'd say 'have fun taking the bus'." Suddenly both bikes came to life. Bakura put one foot on the pedal and rested his hands on the handle bars. Ryou sighed and walked over to the bike. "C'mon, get on in front of me. That way I can keep an eye on you." Ryou climbed on the bike, putting his hands on the bars but leaving enough room for Bakura to steer. Both of them cast a small spell to seal their Items in nether-space so that it wouldn't get in the way while wearing it.

"So when did you get the chance to drive one of these?"

Atemu laughed, and it sent chills down Ryou spine. That laugh sounded a lot more…sinister than Ryou ever remembered Atemu's laughs to be. "We haven't." he laughed again then he took off, speeding down the road.

Ryou paled considerably. "_What_! I'm too young to die."

"Oh, pipe down and stop being so melodramatic." He revved the bike once and then took off after Atemu.

"Ryou," Bakura said as they stopped at some traffic lights. "You have to give directions to Atemu."

Ryou glanced back at Bakura questioningly, "How would I…"

"Remember, he left a link in your mind. Just use that."

"Alright,"

Ryou wasn't shaken. No siree-bob, he was a solid as a rock. And that wasn't _his_ legs that were wobbling. Nope, he was a cool as a cucumber.

"Ryou,"

"AH!" Yeah, as solid as a rock in a tornado. "Don't _do_ that!" Bakura looked amused.

"Come on let's go have some fun."

Ryou smiled. "Right."

xXx

"Atemu, would you please stop breaking into my property. You'll end up giving the guards a nervous break down."

"It wasn't me this time." He pointed to Bakura, who was reclining on his leather sofa, with his thumb. "It was him."

"Well at least you didn't get caught by the guards this time." Bakura looked smug.

"That's because I'm the best at these things."

"We know." They said in unison.

"So what brings you to my office?" Then he took a closer look and spotted the puddles of water all over his furniture, and the steady drip coming from all of their clothes. "And completely soaking wet!"

"Well we went to that new waterpark and well, you know, got wet."

"That's fine…except did you have to drip all over my office. You even got it all over my desk!"

"Calm down, rich-boy," That comment earned him a heated glare from Kaiba but he dismissed it as easily as he did Atemu's. "Your precious office isn't ruined." He stood up and waved his hand over the sofa, revealing it to be completely dry. Atemu waved his hand over desk, miraculously drying it and the papers, which didn't even have so much as a wrinkle.

"And now for the pièce de resistance,"

"Hey when did you learn…" Kaiba started to say but just trailed off as he witness Atemu and Bakura's magick. Before his very eyes, he saw soaking wet clothes dry instantly, leaving behind not even a crease.

"I think that maybe I should explore the belief of the possibility that human being may have the means to utilise magick." Bakura scowled.

"You wanna say that again rich-boy?"

"He's starting to believe in magick." Ryou cut in before a fight could break out.

"I'm sorry to break up your bonding time, but Bakura and I need to go. It's almost 3 o'clock." He said as he walked to the door, pulling Ryou along by the hand. Bakura shot one last glare at Kaiba before following. They both held their arm up and their duel disk materialised there, complete with deck and everything. "Oh and Seto, would you like to come and watch?"

Kaiba smirked as Bakura growled. "Why not? I would like to see how much you skills have increased. Or deteriorated."

"Ha ha. C'mon, let's go." They took the lift to the lobby, Bakura and Atemu pulling up their hoods to hide their faces, and left the building. Kaiba took out his mobile and started dialling. Atemu looked at him quizzically.

"Seto, what are you doing?"

"Calling the car."

"What? Is rich-boy too good to walk with the rest of us?"

"Of course. I wouldn't dare lower myself to walk among these simpletons." Bakura rolled his eyes just as Kaiba's limo pulled up. Kaiba got in first, ducking his head and sliding along the seat. Atemu followed, dragging Ryou in by the arm. Bakura rolled his eyes again and got in, letting out a low whistle at the interior of the limo.

"At least you know how to travel in style, rich-boy."

"I know, and this is the last time you'll ever travel like this thief, so enjoy it while it lasts." Instead of scowling, as Kaiba expected, Bakura smirked at him.

"You have no idea rich-boy. I can either a) steal one (grand theft auto here I come) or b) conjure one using my powers."

Kaiba looked to Atemu for confirmation and he nodded. "It's true. We drove to the waterpark on motorbikes." He broke into a grin. "It was out first time riding them." Ryou paled slightly.

"God, don't remind me. Bakura's a mad man when driving." Atemu stared at him incredulously, "Well, mad_der _anyway. He damn near almost killed me."

Bakura snorted. "Oh don't exaggerate."

Ryou rounded on Bakura and hit him on the arm. "Bakura, half the time you weren't even looking at the road!"

"Quit your whining! You're still alive, aren't you? So get over it."

"We're here children, so shut up!" Atemu glared them into silence and they all got out of the limo.

"It's show time boys and girls." He and Atemu wore identical grins. They got up on the duelling platform and readied their duel disks and their opponents did the same. The officiator got up on the platform as well. When both teams signalled that they were ready, he commenced the duel.

Atemu smirked. "I'll let you go first, since you'll need all the help you can get against us." His opponent growled.

"You think you're hot shit? We'll take you down a peg." He drew. "I play Battle Ox and place one card face down." His partner nodded.

"Right. I play one monster in defence mode and one card face down."

Bakura smirked. "I think I'll play a monster in defence mode as well." He grinned as his opponent scowled at him. "And I'll play germ infection and equip it to your Battle Ox." His opponent other growled as his monster's attack points dropped from 1700 to 1400.

"My turn. I summon Gazelle, King of Mythical Beasts and place two cards face down. Gazelle, attack his Battle Ox."

"Not so fast; reveal face down card! Mirror Force!" he smirked triumphantly, but it soon slipped from his face as Atemu just rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. Reveal Remove Trap." Atemu's Gazelle destroyed the Battle Ox and his opponent lost 100 life points.

Ryou watched, eyes glued to the duel taking place. It was amazing how, without any talking or any signals or even any acknowledgement between Atemu and Bakura, Bakura managed to play the perfect card to assist in Atemu's attack. It was bewildering but remarkable to watch. So enraptured in the duel, he didn't notice Yugi-tachi approaching until Kaiba nudged him with his elbow and nodded in their direction. Ryou groaned and face-palmed; would he ever get any peace? Deciding that he wouldn't let them ruin the duel for his yami and Atemu, he alerted them through the link.

_Umm…sorry to interrupt but Yugi-tachi are approaching. Just thought I'd warn you. _Ryou heard Atemu's growl even though he still looked calm and composed on the outside.

_Thanks for the heads up, Ryou. _Bakura said as his man-eater bug took his opponents monster down with it. It was then that they finally reached Ryou and Kaiba. Yugi shot a surprised look at Kaiba before turning his attention back on Ryou.

"It's good that you finally decided to leave your house Ryou because we need to talk."

"I don't have anything to say to you Yugi, or to any of you for that matter."

"Dammit Ryou this is important. If those two aren't a danger then why are you keeping their identities a secret?"

Ryou smirked at Yugi, which infuriated him to no end, and said, "I'm not keeping their identity a secret; Kaiba here knows who they are."

Yugi looked at Kaiba and was about to open is mouth, probably to start interrogating him as well, but Kaiba interrupted. "Don't even think about trying to bully me into telling you anything. I owe you _nothing_." Jou, taking offence on behalf of his friend (and looking for any excuse to get into an argument with Kaiba), decided to speak up.

"Just who do you think you are money-bags? You can't speak to Yugi like that. Now just tell us who they are or I'll get it out of you the hard way." Kaiba snorted.

"Don't act more stupid then you already are, mutt. You'll never get the best of me in _anything_." Jou growled, fists clenched at his side, trying to fight the urge to lash out.

Well aware of the fight going on below them, Bakura and Atemu grinned at each other when they heard Kaiba's comments. Bakura was about to attack with his Seven-Armed Fiend when he sensed something.

_Atemu, I sense his frustration and his rage, he may do something drastic. Get Kaiba to keep an eye on them just in case something happens._ Atemu nodded.

_Seto,_ Kaiba stopped mid sentence and turned to look at Atemu.

_What is it? I was in the middle of something. _Atemu rolled his eyes at Kaiba aggressive reply.

_Bakura senses something; he wants you to keep an eye on our opponents._

_Fine._ So Kaiba turned his back and watched the duel carefully, and sure enough, when it was their turn, he saw one of then palm a card and place on the field. Kaiba leapt up onto the platform and walked over to the officiator, where he spoke to him in hushed tones, telling him about what had just transpired. The officiator nodded and announced that, due to cheating, the duel would end prematurely. Bakura and Atemu shared a smirk as their opponents were named and shamed, then told to leave the park. Growling and mumbling in anger the two boys jumped from the platform and they stormed off toward the exit. Bakura, Atemu and Kaiba jumped from the platform as well and walked over to where Ryou was being verbally attacked. Rudely shoving his way through to get to Ryou, Bakura grabbed him by the hand and started to pull him over to where the limo was parked. Well he would've if Honda wasn't blocking his way.

"Not so fast. You're not getting away this time." Atemu, having finally had enough, decided to speak up and put a stop to it.

"I guess we should tell them now; no matter how fun this is, it is getting old. But not here, I'd rather not attract unwanted attention. Seto, could we use your office?"

"Fine. But I am _not_ letting them in my limo; they can walk." Atemu burst out laughing and started walking over to the limo, Kaiba following behind him and Bakura dragging Ryou along. They all got in, but before Atemu shut the door he waved and said,

"We'll see you there; have fun walking." Then he shut the door and the limo took off.

xXx

"Okay, so what exactly are we telling them?"

"We'll tell them about why were here; even if it's just to make sure that they be careful. We'll tell them how it is we're in our own bodies, but not how or why we were in the Shadow Realm in the first place. We won't tell them about the depths of my relationship with Bakura." He looked at his lover. "Is that okay with you?" Bakura nodded. Just then Kaiba's phone rang. He went over to his desk to answer it.

"What is it?" Atemu stifled a laugh; Kaiba just couldn't ask things nicely it seemed.

"_Mr Kaiba, there are some children down here to see you. Should I send them up?"_

"Yes, go on then." He turned to the others. "They're here and are on their way up." They sat in a comfortable silence until the door swung open and in walked Yugi and the rest of his friends.

"Alright, we're here. Now tell us what's going on." Bakura and Atemu shared a glance, and then Bakura pulled his hood down.

"_You_! What are you doing back; I thought we finally got rid of you." Bakura shrugged and released the seal on his Ring. He then waved his hand and his duel disk disappeared in a whisper of smoke.

"Yeah, well here I am. Didn't you miss me?"

"Like a kick in the ass." Jou muttered, shooting a dirty glare at the reclining Bakura, still resentful from that threat that he received from him.

"So is that why wanted to hide, huh Ryou? Trying to protect the Tomb Robber yet again?"

"Can it brat, before I send you on a nice trip to the Shadow Realm."

"So who's the other one?" Anzu piped up before Bakura could follow through on his threat. Atemu reached up and removed hood the same time as he released the seal on the Puzzle. Yugi's eyes narrowed and he growled.

"What are you doing here? I thought I got rid of you for good." Atemu smirked, knowing that it would infuriate Yugi even though he was beside himself with fury. Judging by the shocked looks on Yugi's friends face, he never told them why his yami suddenly went missing.

"What're you talking about Yug'?"

"What? You mean you _never_ told your friends what happened? Why don't you enlighten them as to what happened? Tell them what you did that was bad enough to keep Ryou from talking to you?" Part of his anger managed to slip through his mask of calm. "Tell them why I was missing for four years!"

"Yugi, what happened? You never did tell us why Ryou stopped talking to you or why Atemu went missing." Anzu said quietly.

"I…I took apart the Puzzle and trapped Atemu inside." Several gasps were heard around the room.

"But why would you do that? I thought that you guys were best friends."

"Because he was taking over my life!" he snapped, annoyed that his friends didn't seem to be taking his side. "He was always telling me how to live my life. Kaiba stopped duelling me, saying that Atemu was really the person to beat; everyone named him as the King of Games. He _stole_ Anzu's affections when he didn't even like her himself. Everyone liked him better than me! So I trapped him in the Puzzle and took my life back." He crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture before continuing. "Besides it's not as bad as he's making it out to be. He was just trapped inside the Puzzle; all that happened was that he was that he was alone for four years." Atemu started shaking his head; part in negation of what Yugi was saying and partly because he couldn't believe how the other half of his soul was acting.

"You have no idea, you all have no fucking idea what happened to me inside that Puzzle." They were all shocked, Atemu was completely different to how he was four years ago. "Didn't you listen to a word that Ryou said to you four years ago?"

"Why should I? He was probably making it all up to scare me." Atemu growled.

"Stupid brat. It was _hell_ inside the Puzzle. I was tortured relentlessly in there. I lost track of the time; one day bled into another in one stream unending agony. I damn near went insane in there, and you thought it was a lie."

"Oh stop your whining." he snarled, "Exaggerating to get everyone's sympathy, how pathetic." Bakura suddenly stood up and put a restraining hand on Atemu's shoulder, knowing that he was _this_ close to crushing Yugi's spirit. He smirked as an idea suddenly came to him.

"Maybe we should show him exactly what it was like, hmm?" A sadistic grin broke out across Atemu's face, mirroring the one his lover had.

"That's not a bad idea. Would you like to do the honours?"

"What are you two babbling about?" They both turned to Yugi and Atemu said,

"Oh we're just going to show you exactly what it was like in there." Atemu laid a hand on Bakura's shoulder, and remembering exactly what it felt like, sent what he experienced to Bakura, who in turn projected it onto Yugi. Everyone watched in fascination as Yugi eyes got wide before he fell to the floor screaming, hands clutching tightly at his head. Bakura held it only for a second, but it was enough. They cut the connection and looked down at a pale-faced Yugi on the floor. Jou and Honda picked him up and pulled him over to the sofa to recover.

"Still think I'm lying, hmm 'aibou'? And that was only a second of what I felt for weeks." Ryou looked anxiously at Atemu.

_Are you alright Atemu? _He asked hesitantly through the link. Atemu sent him small smile.

_Yes, I'm fine. It just takes a lot of me to remember that, but I'm fine now._ Ryou sent him a tremulous smile in return.

"So how were you able to return Atemu?" Anzu asked while Yugi caught his breath.

"I stayed in the Shadow Realm and increased my powers until I was powerful enough to create my own corporeal body. Me and Bakura managed to accomplish that a few months ago."

"So why is it that you came back now?"

"Ah, that's what I need to talk to you all about, including you Ryou." He sat down on Kaiba's desk, smiling when he heard Kaiba's snort. "There is a new threat to domino; me and Bakura are here to stop it."

"How come I've never heard about this before?"

"Because Kaiba Corp didn't want the bad publicity." He said, speaking up for the first time since the argument and explanation began. "So unless you were duelling in the tournament you wouldn't have known." Finally recovered, Yugi looked at Atemu and glared.

"Since when were you and Bakura such good friends?"

"Since we were in the Shadow Realm together for four years." Bakura shot back.

"Wait a second; I trapped you in the Puzzle. How could you get to the Shadow Realm?"

Atemu smirked. "Sore wa himitsu desu." Yugi growled; Atemu was as annoying as he remembered the Tomb Robber being. "Oh wait, I just remembered. Do you have the God cards on you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. Why?"

"I need them and besides they are rightfully mine, what with me being Pharaoh and all." Yugi clutched at his duel disk that had his deck in it.

"There's no way in hell I'm giving them to you."

"Fine," he grinned. "I guess I'll just have to take them." Bakura suddenly laughed.

"Oh this should be good."

"You ain't comin' anywhere near Yugi, Atemu." Jou said, sticking up for his friend. "He don't have to give them to you."

"Don't worry, I'll stay right here." He waved his hand in a reminder of what happened that morning and Yugi felt his limbs lock and his body freeze. The only thing that he could use was his mouth, and he took advantage of that.

"What the hell have you done to me? Undo it right now!"

"Don't worry," he said patronisingly, "It's just a little binding spell, I'll undo it in a second." His hand glowed blue and he beckoned with two fingers. Three cards came floating out of Yugi's deck and into Atemu's waiting hands. He placed them on top of his deck that was sitting in his duel disk and released the binding spell.

"Give them back Atemu!" Yugi lunged at Atemu just as his duel disk disappeared in the same manner that Bakura's did, and he smirked.

"You'll have to take them from me."

"I hate you."

"Feeling's mutual, brat."

xXx


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Atemu collapsed on the sofa with a loud sigh, and Bakura followed suit after he'd shut the door behind him. Ryou sat nervously in the armchair opposite them and waited for the other two to break the tense silence. However, silence reigned in the living room with seemingly no words forth-coming from either of the two Egyptians. Ryou could practically see the anger coming off of Atemu and Bakura was clenching and unclenching his fists sporadically, the tell-tale sign of his anger.

"Well, shit…" Bakura said, running a hand through his hair harshly. Atemu let out a bitter laugh.

"Well that sums it up nicely." Ryou looked worriedly at Atemu, his teeth tugging at his bottom lip before he asked,

"Are you alright Atemu?"

"I'm just peachy. The other half of my soul hates me and doesn't regret the fact that he condemned me to torture." He replied sarcastically. "Of course I'm not alright." Ryou recoiled and looked away, hurt. Atemu sighed again.

"I'm sorry Ryou. I shouldn't have lashed out. I'm just so…"

"Pissed off?" Bakura supplied helpfully. Atemu shot Bakura a small smile.

"Right. Pissed off but not angry at you. I just can't believe Yugi could be so spiteful and jealous. I mean he was the one always going on about friendship and stuff with Anzu." He growled and clenched his fists. "And to top it all off, there's a maniac out there who keeps on stealing people's souls. Why does this shit always happen to me?"

Bakura smirked. "Maybe you were a bad person in your last life." Ryou snorted, then snickered, then gave up trying to hide it and burst out laughing loudly in his position in the armchair. Atemu shot Bakura a dirty look, and then picked up the cushion next to him and thwaped him over the head with it, causing Ryou to laugh harder. It served to break the tension that had descended on the room.

When they'd finally managed to get their laughter under control, Atemu spoke up again.

"Well, at least that's finally over and done with. You're coming to the semi-finals tomorrow, right Ryou?" Ryou nodded and smiled.

"Since Kaiba scheduled the tournament for during the holidays, I don't have to worry about college."

"Good. We're going to be facing the ones who have been stealing people's souls." At this, both Atemu and Bakura started to grin. Ryou however, just looked worried. "When we win, we find out who is behind this stop them, and then go on to win the tournament."

"How're you going to find out who is behind this?"

"Shadow game." they said simultaneously. Ryou's eyes widened; he hadn't witnessed a shadow game since Battle City and even then, the events were all hazy in his mind, like they were shrouded in mist. But the words _shadow game_ always sent shivers down his spine, because as far as he could remember, he'd only had bad experiences with them.

"Don't worry Ryou, as long as you're with us, _nothing _bad can happen to you, alright?" Ryou smiled; then again, with those two looking out for him, he might never need to worry about anything again for the rest of his life.

xXx

They arrived at Kaibaland a few minutes early, so they were then subjected to numerous dirty looks and glares (mostly from Yugi to Atemu but there were a few from Jou to Bakura) while they waited for Kaiba to officially start the semi-finals. Not in the mood to deal with this, Bakura made Jou's deck disappear until the start of the duels, which managed to distract him enough to stop glaring at him.

They were led to stadium where they would be duelling, finding that their opponents were already there and waiting. They didn't look like anything special, just your average Joe. Nondescript features with nondescript clothing, but Bakura could sense the malicious emotions flowing off of them. They got up on the platform and commenced with all the preparations for a duel. When they'd handed back the shuffled decks of their opponents, Atemu spoke for the first time.

"We," he indicated to Bakura and himself, "Have a proposition for you. We know you two are stealing people's souls. We also know that you two aren't the ones behind it." He put his deck in his duel disk, activating it, and Bakura did the same. "If we win you take us to whoever's in charge. If you win, you get our souls, of course." Their opponents glanced at each other before smirking.

"Sure," he said, shooting a sidelong glance at his friend, who was trying to stifle his laughing. "_If _you win, we'll tell you everything."

_Think they'll keep their end of the bargain? _Bakura's sarcastic voice sounded in Atemu's mind.

_No chance in hell._ was the reply. _Would you like to do the honours?_

_Don't mind if I do. We're going to have to wipe a few memories after this, though._ A sadistic smirk broke out on Bakura's pale feature as his arms rose to call the shadows. Pure _darkness_ seemed to appear from nowhere, blotting out the light around them before it grew and swallowed them. The smirks fell off their opponents faces, only to be replaced with identical frowns.

"What the fuck is this!" One demanded, panicked, as the shadows pulsed around them, seemingly alive. This made Atemu's eyes widen slightly. If they didn't recognise shadow magick, then what were they using to steal people's souls? He shot a look to Bakura, who nodded. So Bakura realised as well? Interesting…

"We don't trust you to keep your end of the deal. So thinks of this as our…insurance." Bakura grinned, fangs glinting eerily in the darkness.

"So if you don't keep your end of the deal…well let's just say, things won't be pleasant." Their opponents growled and shoved their decks into their duel disks, angry and not just a little bit scared and the sudden turn of events. Bakura smiled mockingly and said,

"To make up for it, we'll even let you go first." Angry at being caught off balance and trying to regain his composure, he said with as much confidence he could muster,

"You will regret this. I can't wait to rip your soul from body." The effect of his false confidence was, however, ruined by his partner, who jumped when he saw a tortured soul in the wall of shadows. He growled and glared at his partner before saying, "Time to get this show on the road."

"Let's duel!"

xXx

"This duel is over." Bakura smirked as he drew the card that he knew would win it for them, and placed it on the field. An 'H' appeared on the Destiny Board, spelling out 'DEATH'. "Game over. You lose." He laughed at the wide-eyed and clueless look one of his opponents were sporting as the other one collapsed to the ground, exhausted from staying in the Shadow Realm so long.

"It's time to keep your end of the deal. Tell us what we want to know." Bakura sensed the sudden anger, despair and desperation this invoked in them. He saw one of them glance to the side, as if looking for an escape, and his eyes lit up as they landed on Ryou.

"Don't even _think_ about it. You have two choices: either you tell me what I want to know, or I tear your soul from body and force it to tell me what I want to know before feeding it to the monsters that live here in the Shadow Realm." He gave a fanged smirk. "Your choice." His opponent, however, took no notice of his warning and took off running. He didn't get two steps before he was stopped dead. Bakura held his hand out and _yanked_ his soul from his body. He fell bonelessly to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut. His partner looked on in fear from his position on the floor and started to tremble and shake.

"So, are you going to tell us what we want to know or will you end up like your friend?" He whimpered as Bakura and Atemu drew near, and Bakura could almost taste the fear that was coming off him in waves, it was so strong.

"I-I-I'll talk." Atemu smiled, and it was none-too-pleasant. Ryou felt a chill go down his spine. He'd never seen this side of them before. Well, obviously he'd seen Bakura in one of his more psychotic episodes, but this was a complete 180° from the Atemu he knew. He snorted; hanging around Bakura non-stop for the past four years will do that to a person.

"Good. Who is behind all of this?" The boy on the floor shivered once again, and seemed to have to gather his strength just to answer the question.

"D-Don't know. N-Never met them in p-person. Some man j-just gave us our or-orders." Atemu shared a look with Bakura. Well that yielded a big, fat nothing. Bakura ran a hand through his hair roughly, and then spoke again.

"Where did you go to get your orders?" The boy took even longer this time to answer the question.

"T-T-The warehouse by the p-port. O-On the east side o-of town." After that his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, unconscious, to the floor, his body still trembling and his face pale.

Bakura waved his hand through the air as they made their way off the platform, and the Shadow Realm dispersed. Meanwhile, Atemu was casting the spell to wipe the memories of those who had no knowledge of Shadow Powers. The eye of Horus flashed into being on his forehead briefly, then it faded and Atemu opened his eyes. Atemu made his way over to Seto while Bakura went to check on Ryou.

"We got some info – a _very_ small amount – on what the hell's going on. Bakura and I are going to check out an address now." Seto nodded and said.

"The finals are tomorrow, but if you think sorting this out will take any longer then tell me and I'll change the date. I wouldn't want to miss you completely humiliating that mutt and his partner for this tournament." Atemu smirked and shook his head; only Seto… He walked over to Ryou and Bakura, who was busy explaining everything to his hikari.

"…head over there now. Since we don't know Domino that well, I gonna have to get some info from your head." Ryou's eyes widened; what the hell was Bakura talking about? Then he felt a tingling along his link with Bakura. Just as he was going to ask Bakura what he was doing, the sensation stopped, leaving feeling strangely violated.

"Sorry 'bout that. I know it doesn't feel nice, which is why I try not to do it too often – well to people I like any way – but that was the only way I could get the info I needed quickly enough." He waved to Ryou, and then him and Atemu made their way toward the exit.

_Don't worry; this'll be easy, and I'll keep you posted via telepathy about what happens. _And with that they disappeared out of sight, leaving a worried Ryou behind, biting his lip anxiously.

xXx

As soon as they left Kaibaland, they vanished into an alley so they could use their magick without any witnesses. They decided that they would travel using the Shadow Realm in order to get there quickly. Since Bakura was the one with the knowledge of where they were going, he had to lead.

They reappeared right outside the entrance to the warehouse, and immediately they could feel a huge amount of power emanating from the building. But the power was no longer active there; it was just an image of the real power. They shared a look before Bakura sighed.

"Well that gave us a big, fat nothing." He took a cigarette out from his pocket and lit up. Atemu shot him a look.

"Where the hell did you get that from?" Bakura smirked before inhaling.

"Some guy's pocket at Kaibaland." Atemu rolled his eyes, looking like he wanted to argue, but instead said,

"At least we know that someone powerful was here. We can use their magick to track them." Bakura nodded and flicked away the half finished cigarette. In a matter of mere seconds, a motorbike had materialised in front of them.

"I'll drive, you track them." He said as he climbed on the bike. Atemu got on behind him and wrapped his arms tightly around his lover as he closed his eyes to concentrate on the tracking spell. Bakura started the engine and then sped off down the road.

Using the tracking spell, Atemu relayed the directions to Bakura telepathically as he got them, and soon they pulling over outside what looked to be a BDSM club. It wasn't late enough for the club to be open, and looked like one of those official, upscale ones that you need an invitation to get into.

Atemu opened his eyes, took one look at the clubs, and choked on a laugh. "I _don't_ want to know. It takes all sorts I guess. C'mon." They both got off the bike and it disappeared in whisper of smoke.

"Since they may know that we're here, we shouldn't make it easy for them. We'll enter through the back."

What was strange as they moved through the building, was that they didn't encounter anyone else on their way to where the sensed the origin of the power. If that was where the leader of this whole operation was staying then shouldn't there have been guards present? The building was eerily empty, and if it wasn't for the magick that they could both sense then they both would've pegged the building as abandoned.

It turned out that this person was on the top floor, and by the time they'd made it up there (they had to take the stairs because they didn't trust the lifts), Bakura was in _very_ bad mood. The walked quietly but quickly down the hallway until they came to the only door, which was right at the end.

"They better be here." Bakura muttered under his breath as he went to open the door, Atemu behind him ready to attack should they be ambushed. He pushed the door open, but froze in the doorway, Atemu doing all he could not to run into him. Bakura snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hn. Figures it would be a woman."

xXx


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She was reclining on what looked like piles upon lies of soft, plush cushions, which were all varying shades of red: from deep blood reds to rich burgundy colours. It complimented the terracotta colours that the rest of the room was done in (Bakura thought that there was something wrong with the woman if her secret hide-out was all colour coordinated, but then again it could be that way because she was a woman). Surrounding her were what looked like her bodyguards, although instead of guarding her life they were treating her like Cleopatra.

She wore black satin robe that just about reached mid thigh, revealing long milky white legs. She was barefoot with a small butterfly tattoo on her ankle. She had long raven black hair that was done up small plaits which were then pulled together in an intricate bun. Her wide green eyes were outlined in kohl and there was the faintest trace of blusher on her high cheek bones. Bakura could sense the effect she was having on her guards and it made him sick. Yes, he could see that she was beautiful, but she could have been a sack of potatoes for all the effect she had on him.

Not one bit worried at the fact that they just barged into her 'hideout', she was instead enjoying her treatment to the fullest. Either she was expecting them and just didn't care either way or they had managed to catch her unawares. That still didn't explain however, why she looked like she would look more comfortable standing on street corners ay night.

"So good of you to make it. My name's Safiya. It's a pleasure." she said and smiled, a slow seductive curl of her lips. Bakura knew that she was aware of the effect she had on the men in this room and that she used it to her full advantage.

"Hn. How did you know we were coming?" Atemu asked, as unfazed by her as Bakura was. She shifted on the cushions and her robe rode up a little higher, which sent the levels of sexual tension emanating from her guards soaring in the room. Frankly, it was starting to piss Bakura off.

"When you and gorgeous over there," she said, indicating to Bakura, "Took one of my boys' soul, I sensed your power and memorised the signature. So I knew it was you as soon as you entered this area."

"So you know why we're here. That saves us a shitload of work." Bakura crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at her. "So are we gonna go about this the easy way or am I going to have to send your soul to the shadows as well." His smirk widened, "Please say you'll choose option two; I never have any fun around here anymore."

"Speaking of the shadows," Atemu smoothly interjected, "Before we send your soul there, there's a question I've been meaning to ask you. What type of magick do you use? It's obvious it's not the same as ours."

"I really shouldn't tell you this…but since you're oh-so sexy, I think I can make an exception just for you." She bent one of her legs and put the foot flat on the floor, giving everyone and their uncle a clear view of what was underneath her robe. "Like most things in this world, my magick is from ancient Egypt. It was used a lot by the priests and three millennia ago, and Pharaohs started to use it as well. It's less known about but by no means less powerful."

_I think I know what magick she's talking about Atemu. Since not every one could command the shadows, they turned to other forms of magick. And after you sealed your soul away to stop the Shadow Games, it makes sense that Pharaohs would begin to use that method of magick._

The proverbial light bulb went off in Atemu's mind. _Yes I remember. There was an incident a few months after I first came to the throne. A lesser priest didn't feel I was fit to be Pharaoh, but lacked the shadow powers necessary to defeat me. So he turned to another form of magick. _Atemu smirked. _That still didn't help the bastard when he decided to challenge me. _Out loud he said, "I know the magick of which you speak." He smirked humourlessly, "It still doesn't measure up to my powers, however."

"Hmm," Safiya purred as she rose gracefully to her feet. "If you are so powerful, then why do you waste your time protecting this worthless town? With the power you describe at your fingertips, no one could stop you." She sauntered over to them as she spoke, a light sway to her hips that seemed to hypnotise her guards (Bakura thought that the only reason they were there was to make her look better since they were useless for anything else). She laid her hands on Bakura's chest and stepped closer until she was flush against him. Bakura glanced at the hands that were making themselves quite comfortable where they were, then back up at her. He raised an eyebrow. "If you were to fight _with_ me rather than against me, there would be nothing we couldn't do." She began to slowly inch her hands downwards. "What do you say, hmm?" Her hands reached the waistline of Bakura's cargo pants and she slipped her hands underneath his shirt, tracing his abdominal muscles with her fingertips. Atemu's left eye twitched as he watched what she was doing.

_Oh how cliché. I can't believe she gave the whole 'join me' speech. And trying to seduce you as well! _

_I thought she was better than villains you see in the movies._

Just as her hands were about to disappear down Bakura's cargo pants Bakura grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and held them above her head. She shot him a coy look which transformed into a smirk as he leaned in closer, his mouth by her ear. It seemed as though that particular tactic had worked for her before.

The smirk fell from her face, however, as he whispered, "I'm sure your party tricks _usually_ work on men, but unfortunately for you, I seem to be immune to your 'charms', so sorry to disappoint you. I'm gay and my lover's standing just to your left, trying to figure out the most painful way to kill you." He flung her arms back harshly, causing her to stumble a bit before she regained her footing. Her guards suddenly came alive then and as one they took a menacing (or at least would've been menacing to a lesser person) step forward as one, only for Safiya to signal for them to stop. She hmphed and straightened out her barely-there robe.

"Well since you can't be…swayed, I guess I'll just have to dispose of you."

_She isn't serious, is she?_ Atemu's incredulous thought drifted through Bakura's mind.

_Apparently,_

_Fool!_ They both felt the energy gathering around her and her own power spike then start to rise rapidly. However, when seemed that she had gathered all her energy, it was only about enough to cause one of them problems, never mind take on the both of them. Bakura smirked; it would be too easy.

Atemu closed his eyes and the eye of Horus flashed into being as he called on the shadows. And they came eagerly, consuming the room and all its inhabitants until all that was left was inky darkness. Safiya glanced anxiously around her, having never experienced anything like the Shadow Realm, before she remembered her audience and adopted a haughty expression.

"Is that all you've got?" she taunted, not letting any of her nervousness through. Bakura grinned, a baring of his teeth that looked vaguely demonic as he automatically went on the offensive, the shadows surrounding him like a shroud. He and Atemu had worked together enough to know what each other worked best at. He felt Atemu gather his magick at his fingertips even as he himself called on the power of the Sennen Ring.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

She launched her attacked, designed to weaken them enough for her to take their souls, but Atemu raised his hands and a wall of pure darkness rose in their wake, stopping the attack dead without even some much as wavering under the strain.

"Is that all you've got?" Bakura mocked, a throwback to her earlier taunt. "My turn." The shadows leapt from Bakura at Safiya, wrapping themselves around her and engulfing her completely as tendrils of the darkness dug into her skin like needles, leaving a burning behind even as her body grew cold. Atemu and Bakura smirked as her screams reverberated around the room. Her guards looked on helplessly as the screaming abruptly stopped and the form of Safiya collapsed to the ground.

"Well that was easy. I thought she would've created more of a challenge." Bakura sneered down at her before he and Atemu turned to leave. They'd just reached the door when they heard muffled words and then a thud. They turned back to see one of her guards laying lifeless on the ground and Safiya making her way unsteadily to her feet. She mumbled the same words again and another guard fell to ground. Atemu felt her power grow as she started to repeat the same words over and over again and each time a guard dropped like a stone to the ground. It was then that Atemu finally understood why she wanted souls.

_The souls she takes, it gives her power._

_Thank you, Detective Obvious._ Atemu scowled at the sarcastic response but did nothing because at that point, Safiya was back on her feet looking none the worse for wear, with all her guards soulless at her feet.

"Right, time for round two." She fired the same attack, this time with exponentially more power. Atemu raised the same shield just as the assault hit it. It held for a second, then a huge crack appeared in it before it suddenly shattered, leaving the attack headed straight for Atemu.

_Atemu!_

Contact.

An explosion, one that rocked the very foundations of the building and forced Bakura and Safiya to their knees.

Silence, then: _I'm…fine, I'm alright, I think…owww._

"Well," she smirked and got to her feet. She dusted herself off and said, "One down, one to go." She turned her attention to Bakura just as the smoke started to clear, revealing Atemu standing there proudly, his form protected by Big Shield Guardna. A few scratches were present, and there were bruises that would make their presence known the next day but other than that, Atemu was fine. He thanked the duel monster and dismissed him, then turned to the angry Safiya.

"Better luck next time." Atemu waved his hand and Safiya felt her limbs lock and her body go rigid. It was different to the one he used on Yugi; this one was a total immobility spell and much more powerful, as Safiya found out as she tried to utter a spell to counteract the binding spell and found that she couldn't even wiggle her tongue, never mind move her mouth. Bakura took over from there and drew on the considerable energies of the Ring to take her soul. The Ring glowed brightly as Bakura raised his arm and _pulled _on Safiya's soul. Even though she was bound her soul was loath to leave her body. It left her body inch by inch, as if it was clinging on by its fingertips. Her body crumpled to the ground, her eyes wide and unseeing as Bakura gave one final yank and her soul came free of her body. Bakura then reached into nether-space and pulled his Man-Eater Bug card out. He called the monster forth and instructed it to devour her soul. They both turned to leave for the second time, not caring about the empty shell left on the floor. Bakura decided to contact Ryou as they made their way down the stairs and let him know what happened.

_Ryou, it's over and we won with no casualties. Me and Atemu are on our way home._ He sensed Ryou's relief and joy before he cut the connection. Once that was taken care of, Atemu opened a portal in the Shadow Realm to take them home. They felt arms warp around their waists before they were fully out of the Shadow Realm.

"Are you sure you're both alright?" asked Ryou after he'd finally released them. Atemu smiled as Bakura said,

"Don't worry, everything's fine."

xXx

I dunno. I'm still not pleased about this chapter but I can't be assed to write it again so I hope you all enjoy it XD


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